David Mitchell on how to write: “Neglect everything else”

I like David Mitchell. He’s one of the greatest novelists alive right now. He’s best known for Cloud Atlas, but I really loved Number9Dream. So, when I saw he had a little chat with The Atlantic , I had to read it. You can read the whole thing here. Here’s some of what he had — Read More

Daily routines of famous writers, part 2

I’m weirdly fascinated when I read about the daily routines of writers. I guess I’m curious to see if my routines are similar or different. I’m looking for the key to writing a good novel. I always come to the same conclusion: there is no magical ritual, there is no one way to write. Still, — Read More

Just keep swimming

That’s what I think of when I’m struggling with writing–just keep swimming, just keep swimming. You know, from “Finding Nemo.” If you don’t know, you should watch that movie. That one little phrase has helped me get through hard weeks at work, a week-long trek through the High Sierras, half marathons, and now this book — Read More

Muse, I don’t have time to wait for you.

I’m writing this post as a means to procrastinate. I’m trudging along through my book revision and I have a very intense chapter to write today. With that in mind, I did every errand I could think of. And now here I am, blogging. I swear I will open the dreaded Word document right after — Read More

Henry Miller’s 11 commandments

Last week, I posted Stephen King’s 22 writing tips. I went on a tip-finding spree of sorts and found these 11 commandments from Henry Miller (Source: Brain Pickings). He jotted these down during his 1932-33 year-of-writing. Oh, the wonders a good list can do for motivation. 1. Work on one thing at a time until — Read More

22 tips from Stephen King

As one of the most successful and prolific writers that’s ever lived, I’d say Stephen King is a pretty good source for tips. Source: Business Insider (My thoughts in italics) 1. Stop watching television. Instead, read as much as possible. If you’re just starting out as a writer, your television should be the first thing — Read More

Odd jobs of famous writers

In my last post about the daily lives of famous creatives, I pointed out that many of the greats didn’t have the pleasure/burden of a day job–at least in their heyday. I’m sure most had day jobs at some point. And thanks to the good ol’ Huffington Post, we know what some of those were. — Read More

Daily Lives of Famous Creative People

(If by “regular” and “orderly,” he means “boring,” I’ve got this covered) If you’re like me, you’ve read a great book or listened to a great album and thought, “How the hell did this masterpiece come to be?” It’s only natural to want to peek into the lives of the creators–in search of secrets or — Read More