{"id":5041,"date":"2021-03-02T22:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T05:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dresan.com\/blog\/?p=5041"},"modified":"2021-03-02T22:00:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T05:00:09","slug":"hannibal-lecter-judges-me-when-i-cook-a-milford-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/02\/hannibal-lecter-judges-me-when-i-cook-a-milford-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannibal Lecter Judges Me When I Cook (A Milford Essay)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lecter<\/p>\n

So, I have a new essay up at the Milford SF Writer’s<\/a> blog: “Hannibal Lecter Judges Me When I Cook<\/a>“! This essay explores the writing techniques Thomas Harris uses to make Lecter a convincing character:<\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s set the stage: I\u2019m a writer, learning to be vegan \u2026 and a fan of Thomas Harris\u2019s Hannibal series about an erudite cannibal. Hannibal itself is one of my favorite books: while the world Harris creates is dark and depressing, that world feels compellingly real to me \u2014 which leaves me in the unenviable position of having a mental model of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, as played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, leaning over my shoulder and judging me while I\u2019m cooking.<\/p>\n

Now, don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 he\u2019s not judging me for my plant-based cooking (I\u2019m not a vegan, but I am married to one, and I\u2019m trying). He\u2019s judging me based on my poor technique, my unrefined tastes, and my willingness to prepare quick meals when I\u2019ve got work to do. But as a writer, I\u2019m fascinated with how Harris created a world so realistic that I\u2019ve built up a mental model of a nonexistent person.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For the rest, please check it out at the Milford blog. Milford is a great writing conference and I recommend it to everyone: I describe more of Milford and my experiences here<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Are you interested in the Milford SF Writer\u2019s Conference? A year ago, I definitely was! I was in the middle of the Taos Toolbox Writer\u2019s Workshop and couldn\u2019t get enough of its \u201cMilford-Style Critique\u201d \u2013 a collaborative process in which a dozen or so writers critique each other\u2019s stories in a circle of peers. For each story, every attendee offers 2-3 minutes of commentary (timed) to which the writer listens (quietly), at which point they may respond, followed by open discussion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Please go check them out! And be nice to people, or one of them might eat you.<\/p>\n

-the Centaur<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, I have a new essay up at the Milford SF Writer’s blog: “Hannibal Lecter Judges Me When I Cook“! This essay explores the writing techniques Thomas Harris uses to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205,220,202],"tags":[4,190],"class_list":["post-5041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-groups","category-technique","category-writing","tag-dragon-writers","tag-pointers","ratio-2-1","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5043,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5041\/revisions\/5043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}