Episode 39: In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

Here’s what I learned from In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado:

• I can write a cohesive story that is made up of little stories, all strung together with a unifying theme. 

• When writing about moments of inebriation or vulnerability, it’s funny to include present-tense comments of your thoughts at the time, like a question you thought, or something ridiculous that would not make sense if you were sober. 

• Metaphors don’t need to be explicitly explained, as long as there's context surrounding it. 

• Surprise your reader with a different format at some point in the book: in this case, she did a whole section of Choose Your Own Adventure.

• When you find it difficult to explain something, analogies are a great tool.