Jeffrey Eugenides is one of my newly-declared favorite writers. I love his style, his stories, his characters, everything. Books I read in the past couple years and already want to read again: Middlesex, The Marriage Plot, and Virgin Suicides. So, when I saw a column in The New Yorker featuring his advice for new writers, — Read More
Category: Writers on Writing
Behind every great writer…
This isn’t totally accurate. I don’t have a loyal pet. My cat is rather indifferent to my endeavors and I’m the dog’s second favorite.
Let’s play make believe
The other day, I came across this Tobias Wolff quote: It got me thinking about that recurring question: Why do writers write? I’ve always maintained that writing serves as some kind of therapy, a way to play out hopes and dreams and fears via characters who, in a sense, protect the author who creates them. — Read More
Happy National Punctuation Day!
Actually, it was yesterday, so Happy Belated National Punctuation Day! I am a lover of punctuation. Punctuation can change the entire rhythm of a sentence. It can change the entire meaning. You’ve probably seen this example: A teacher asked her class to punctuate this sentence: Woman without her man is nothing. Half came up with — Read More
26 writing tips from famous authors
Want tips from writers who know what the hell they’re talking about? Check out the 26 tips here. These really resonate with me: George Orwell John Steinbeck Annie Dillard Ray Bradbury Saul Bellow Kurt Vonnegut
My book was a bad idea.
I’ve had that thought about a couple books I wrote, so when I saw a Salon.com article with that title, I had to click. And that’s when I got to know Corinne Purtill’s experience with writing a book. And I got to empathize with her. The gist: Woman quits day job to write book. Book — Read More
What NOT to say to a writer
I don’t know if it’s just that writers are super sensitive or what, but it seems that all of us feel like people say the wrong thing in response to our career/hobby/passion/whathaveyou. This list is a pretty good summary, capturing common comments that make writers laugh (or cry, on a bad day): From my own — Read More
Quotes of the month: Anne Lamott
Thanks to a long-time friend for sending this to me: I’ve always liked Anne Lamott. What she has to say about writing is always inspiring. She really speaks to why many of us love writing and reading. I highly recommend her book, Bird by Bird. These are some of my favorite quotes: “For some of — Read More
They say you should write what you know…
So I’m writing that I know this is hilarious.
Writers in love
I’ve always been intrigued by writers who date or marry other writers. At one point in my life, I think I aspired to this. I imagined the two of us scribbling down notes during random moments, sharing story ideas, serving as first reader and editor for each other. It was a fantasy of mutual absorption — Read More