Blog : River Teeth Revisited

Outline as Structure: Scaffolding in a “Dark Barn”

By Micah Gjeltema   |  March 27, 2023
It is difficult to find an angle of approach when writing about a personal experience, a deeply held belief, an individual revelation. As River Teeth editor Jill Christman likes to say, "Life doesn't come with plot." When telling a

"Terrible Sanity" and the Art of Narrative

By Jake Demers   |  April 15, 2021
In “Terrible Sanity” (20.2), Sam Pickering wanders through his own life, lamenting the present and celebrating the past.

Anchoring and Questioning: Tracing Research and Reflection in Leonard Winograd’s “The Physics of Sorrow”

By Jessie Ferree   |  March 16, 2021
Leonard Winograd’s essay “The Physics of Sorrow,” found in River Teeth 21.1, provides a perfect example of the proper roles of research and reflective questioning.

“The Babysitter” by Anton DiSclafani: Writing the Braided Essay

By Shelbi Tedeschi   |  February 15, 2021
I’ll admit it—I’m a sucker for a good woven essay. Call it a braided or challah essay, give it two strands, give it four. I’m drawn to them, and when I read a good one, I find myself pulling the pieces apart, trying to master the art of it.

Pacing & Tempo Possibilities for Micro Essays: A Beautiful Things Analysis

By Valerie Weingart   |  May 6, 2020
When writing in compressed forms, it is imperative to consider how much time—how many words, how much “air”—a writer allots to each component of a scene. This consideration is directly related to pacing (or, in musical terms, tempo), and can evoke moods and tones connected to the speaker’s emotional state. By keeping the ideas of tempo, pacing, and focus in mind, a writer can determine which parts of a scene should receive the most attention—conducting readers through to their composition line by line.

"Almost Thirty" by Rachel Weaver: A Balancing Act in Narrative Rhythm

By Rebekah Hoffer   |  April 15, 2020
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in writing creative nonfiction is that, when in doubt, sometimes the best way to write about a thing is to write about something else entirely. Rachel Weaver uses this technique to great effect in her essay, "Almost Thirty" (River Teeth, Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 2019)—one of my favorites of the essays I’ve recently read.

Allusion as Structure in Sean Ironman’s “And I Will Give You As Many Roast Bones As You Need”

By Jonah James   |  April 8, 2020
Sean Ironman’s essay, “And I Will Give You As Many Roast Bones As You Need”(River Teeth, Volume 21, Number 1, Fall 2019)—is the longest essay in River Teeth 21.1, and in the same way its name winds and wends, so too does the essay, bridging memory and history and theory together to form one long road that leads its way through the many ways humans and dogs have loved each other and lived together over the years.

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