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THE 10 BEST NOVELS I’VE EVER READ
Kundera was a Czechoslovakian writer who went into exile (he was expelled from the Communist party, took part in the Fourth Congress of the Czech Writers Union in 1967, and remained focused on reforming Czechoslovak Communism. After the Prague Spring, and after his books were banned by the Czech Government, Kundera visited France, moving there in 1975. I learned all this after I was introduced to The Unbearable Lightness of Being while learning to teach English as a foreign l
Cully Perlman
1 day ago13 min read
TOP 5 PUERTO RICAN NOVELS
Like a lot of us descendent (and native) Puerto Ricans living in the contiguous United States, we’ve tended to live in particular geographic locations, primarily New York (where my mother grew up and where my family lived for years—where we’re known as “Nuyoricans”!), Philadelphia, Newark and Jersey City, Hartford and New Haven, Chicago, Cleveland, Orlando, Tampa, and other large cities. As a writer, I’ve notice not only the lack of, and imbalance between, Hispanic writers an
Cully Perlman
Sep 26 min read
USING CARICATURES TO IMPLEMENT THEME IN FICTION: HENRY JAMES’S THE SPOILS OF POYNTON – A CASE STUDY
When characters break out of their molds, it is odd and distracting, and almost as if an actor in a play accidentally walked too far to one side, comically landing or intruding into another production. It simply does not work. This motif applies to characters in their own distinct fashions, and the consequences weigh heavily and accordingly.
Because James wrote The Spoils around the time he was interested in the theater (Guy Domville opened in 1895 to a terrible reception) .
Cully Perlman
Aug 2619 min read
USING RELIGIOUS PASSAGES AND QUOTES IN YOUR WRITING
In C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis uses the Christian teachings of sacrifice and forgiveness. Aslan, the lion, represents a savior figure. His journey is taken almost directly from those Christian teachings. In one of my favorite novels, John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family is forced to journey to California when their farm is foreclosed on during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl.
Cully Perlman
Aug 117 min read
SHORT FICTION: A SHORT LONG DAY AT ZABUNDY INC.
When Tom steps out I want to stab myself in the eyes with all of the blue and black Zabundy ballpoints, which also happen to glow in the dark, and are leftovers from tradeshows pre-rebranding the company (we were Zed Marketing, but once we full-throttled into web design and Microsoft products to exploit said industries, Zabundy we became). All of this during my first week.
Cully Perlman
Aug 424 min read
WRITING PROLOGUES AND EPILOGUES FOR YOUR NOVEL
They serve multiple purposes, and are part of the novel, though not part of the main narrative. Prologues allow authors to provide readers with backstories. They maybe introduce themes that will trickle in through the novel. They can, and often are (however overt of subtle) be a foreshadowing of things to come. They’re also a good way to introduce readers to the world in which they are about to enter for the next two hundred, three hundred, or, in certain genres, five, six, o
Cully Perlman
Jul 75 min read
USING DIALECT IN FICTION
Whatever dialect you choose to use, make sure you’re doing it justice. Unless you’re from the town or city or state or region that you’re writing about, and so know, firsthand, the details and words and accents and how people speak, make sure to do your research. Be thorough. The last thing you want to do is write a novel in Jamaican Patois and get everything wrong, because you’re translating everything literally, ignoring the cadence or common phrases for things and situatio
Cully Perlman
May 127 min read
WRITING TIPS FOR ADVANCED WRITERS
I liken all of the parts of a novel to baking a cake. Yes, we may have all the ingredients—the flour, the sugar, the vanilla, the milk, the butter, but now it’s time to learn how to put them all together so the cake is not only a cake, but it’s a cake that you want to eat until you can’t eat anymore. Until you must unbutton those jeans of yours and you’re on the brink of diabetes. Until writing great fiction becomes an addiction you can only satisfy by getting more of it
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May 530 min read
WHAT THE MIDDLE OF YOUR NOVEL MUST DO TO SUCCEED
First, read widely. Pick a few books that, as I like to say, are “hard to kick holes through). There’s a reason some books are “unputdownable.” Sure, authors can hook you. A lot do. But books (and authors) that are successful keep you guessing. They provide insights and aphorisms that make you see the world in different ways. They continue building upon the hook they put into your lip and give you more hooks to make you stay. Which books do that for you?
Cully Perlman
Apr 299 min read
3 Great Examples of Dialogue in Fiction
, Ernest Hemingway changed the way writers wrote during the Twentieth Century. His “iceberg theory” revolutionized dialogue because unlike the writing that came before him, Hemingway’s writing created tension in what was not said rather than what was said. Characters in Hemingway’s fiction are evasive when it comes to what they say (he uses a lot of subtext), his characters are short on words, the language is not elevated or highbrow, he uses repetition to show obsession and
Cully Perlman
Feb 1013 min read
BOOK REVIEW: STONE ANGELS by Helena Rho explores the sexual exploitation of Korean women and girls during the Asia-Pacific War
We’re reminded of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, when Macbeth stares at his hands out of a sense of guilt: “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” Macbeth asks. If you know anything about Korean culture, you know how prominent the concept of avoiding shame is, as well as how important traditional displays of respect are, especially concerning the halmeonis and hal-abeojis, the grandmothers and grandfathers, who rule over Korean families
Cully Perlman
Feb 98 min read
5 Great Examples of Scenes in Novels
When we read fiction, we love a lot of it (if the book is well-written), but it’s always the scenes that we remember. The scenes are what’s visual for us, even above description, though the term “description,” when you’re first starting out as a writer, might trick us into believing that’s what we’ll remember, i.e., the things “described” by an author because they’re visual. Now, I’m not saying that that is always the case, but it pretty much is, at least in my view.
Cully Perlman
Nov 18, 202512 min read
5 Motivational Writing Tips to Get You Back to Work
So, on this beautiful Friday (it’s beautiful where I’m at and looks to be pretty nice all over the U.S., though Tropical Storm Melissa looks like it’s becoming a hurricane), I want to share 5 motivational writing tips to get you back to work.
Don’t Edit While You Write. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, and you know what it means. But it doesn’t have to be a full-on, abandon that adverb that sticks out like a sore thumb sort of “don’t edit.” Take that thing out!
Cully Perlman
Oct 24, 20255 min read
Comparing the Narrative Structure of Nathan Hill’s The Nix and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections
Another novel I’m reminded of is City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg, as all three novels, in terms of scope and length (As a writer, I love me a good long book that’s captivating and just interesting all around; it’s a feat few writers are capable of), but also because, for me, it highlights the skill of the author, meaning they know how to write a long novel that keeps readers reading and not abandoning the book mid-read.
Cully Perlman
Oct 11, 20255 min read
Mastering the Craft: How to Write Crime Fiction*
Flat or stereotypical characters undermine the emotional impact of crime fiction. Develop multidimensional personalities with believable motivations, relationships, and flaws. Avoid clichés—such as the “alcoholic detective” or “evil genius”—unless you can bring fresh insight or depth. If you won’t want to go to the alcoholic detective, maybe she is a heroin addict or has a mental illness.
Cully Perlman
Sep 26, 202510 min read
Cutting Your Novel Down to Its Essential Components
As writers, we dive deep—into our emotions, into the research we conduct so that we get every detail correct, every accent right, and that we pull from our readers the emotions within them that will keep them interested and thus keep them reading. To do that, we must focus on the book we’re trying to write. We need to understand that we have a central character that wants something and who goes after it, despite opposition. She never stops seeking what she wants, no matter wh
Cully Perlman
Jun 4, 20255 min read
How Jack Kerouac’s On the Road Influenced Generations
The month after I read On the Road, which Kerouac famously wrote on eight long sheets of tracing paper which he taped together into a continues 120 foot scroll, I sold my prized Gran Prix (prized because it had dark tinted windows, 6x9 speakers, and shiny rims that were all the rage in Miami, Florida, at the time), all of my possessions (except my books), broke up with a long-term girlfriend, and jumped in a friend’s car heading West to work as a cook in Yellowstone National
Cully Perlman
May 7, 20256 min read
Book Review: MY DARLING BOY. John Dufresne takes us on a Journey into a Dark, Drug-Fueled Florida.
As most parents of addicts know, addiction is a chronic medical condition with recidivism rates holding north of fifty percent.
Cully Perlman
Mar 12, 202511 min read
GUEST POST: On Poetry by Peter Mladinic
I have many false starts, and go down many dead ends; but that’s part of the process. The main thing is to enjoy the process
Cully Perlman
Mar 4, 20252 min read
What You Leave Out of your Novel is More Important Than What You Leave In
I’ve written first drafts in three weeks, and others in six months. Some have taken me years. Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road in three weeks.
Cully Perlman
Feb 4, 20256 min read
Writing is a job. It's fun. It's trying. It's hard. But if you're committed to getting published, you have to put the work in. Come to Novelmasterclass.blog to get tips, read and watch interviews and book reviews, and learn how to write.
THE LOSSES
A novel
"I've just read Cully Perlman's hefty, ambitious, and radiant debut novel, The Losses, and I was flat knocked out. This is much more than a promising first novel by an inordinately gifted writer; it is a dazzling literary achievement. Perlman is an enchanter, casting his spell with lyrical prose, evocative details, and spellbinding characters. He explores familial chaos, reckless behavior, and tragic love with poise, savvy, and tenderness. What talent, what nerve, what a wondrous and spellbinding novel."
--John Dufresne
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