Category Archives: storytelling

Giving RENT a second chance

Posted on June 11, 2017 by José Iriarte

I love theatre, and I love musicals. My spouse and I used to perform in our local community theatre troupe, before toxic politics sank it. So gosh, I should really like Rent, right? I like a lot of the songs, … Continue reading →

Posted in movies, storytelling, writing | Leave a comment

. . . And my own 2015 recap and award eligibility post

Posted on January 1, 2016 by José Iriarte

In this post yesterday, I told folks about stories by other writers that I loved this year. Now I’d like to take a moment to reflect on my own writing year. Nobody reads my blog anyway, so I know nobody … Continue reading →

Posted in artist's life, blargety-blog, lists, storytelling, writing | 1 Comment

New Pub Plus Half-Year In Review

Posted on July 8, 2015 by José Iriarte

I’ve had two more sales since the last time I updated, and one of them came out yesterday! “Message from Beyond” is a bit less heavy than a lot of my stories, more of a funnish ghost story, so if … Continue reading →

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“My Writing Process” Blog Hop

Posted on June 17, 2014 by José Iriarte

YA writer and dear friend Marlana Antifit tagged me on the writing process blog hop that’s been going around, for which I’m so grateful—I genuinely love being tagged in things like this, and yet I seem somehow to be overlooked … Continue reading →

Posted in artist's life, bookish life, close to home, rants, storytelling, teen issues, the latino thing, writing | 6 Comments

Goals and Tide-Me-Over-Goals: Examples from the Pros (Part 2)

Posted on October 21, 2011 by José Iriarte

In a previous post, I stated my belief that characters are pretty much only interesting if they’re trying to accomplish something. It’s incredibly common, in an unpublished manuscript, to get a good long look at a character’s life before—before everything … Continue reading →

Posted in storytelling | 4 Comments

Is your character just along for the ride? On characters and goals and tide-me-over goals (Part 1)

Posted on October 19, 2011 by José Iriarte

I try to avoid talking about craft too much on this site for a couple of reasons. One is because I don’t want this site to be boring to nonwriters. Another is because of cred: I don’t want some jackass … Continue reading →

Posted in storytelling | 1 Comment

Bad Teacher, Terrible Movie

Posted on July 10, 2011 by José Iriarte

We don’t get out to see movies as often as I’d like. They’re really expensive these days, especially for a family of four, and times are tough. The other day my wife suggested that for about the price of us … Continue reading →

Posted in math, movies, storytelling, teaching | 3 Comments