“On the path ahead, stepping out from behind a boulder, a man appears.” So begins Maggie O’Farrell’s I Am, I Am, I Am. In the next two sentences, we get some precise description, enough to start creating a world and convince us to inhabit it. And then, we get a look at the man again. […]
Suspense, Regardless of Genre: Tips for Reading and Writing by Andromeda Romano-Lax Read More »
For years I kept a handful of John Steinbeck quotes on my office wall, among them: “The writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true.” I loved how that quote captures the two
The Writer’s Healthy Delusions by Andromeda Romano-Lax Read More »
This June something extraordinary happened. I published my debut novel, Dreaming Home. It has already gotten positive notice, including—unbelievably to me—a favorable review in The New York Times. I’m over the moon about this recognition for something I labored over for more than fifteen years. But here’s the thing, I didn’t write the novel alone.
It Takes a Family to Write a Novel by Lucian Childs Read More »
So, yesterday I was writing this sentence, and the fancy grammar-check tool in my laptop caught me failing to practice what we preach in “flash” writing workshops: ie. writing precisely and economically. Our motto is “A Few Good Words”. The sentence: He reverts back to his usual snarly tone. It’s not the worst sentence I’ve
Why Flash? by Rich Chiappone Read More »
Sometimes we just need the right word or phrase in order to bring a problem and its solution into focus. For me last month, that phrase was “Project Stacking.” I came across it in a newsletter by a comedy writer named Caitlin Kunkel, who learned it in grad school, in a program focused on writing
Photo caption: The face of a man who can’t come up with a good novel title. Have you ever heard about those parents who don’t name a child when he or she is born, delaying the choice for several days? It’s their legal right to do so. But the failure to name a baby seems,
Name Your Baby by Andromeda Romano-Lax Read More »
“You know, you could write a book,” our overnight guest said as I poured coffee into his mug. It was a bright, summer morning in Juneau, Alaska. For months, he’d followed a blog I’d written for family and friends chronicling my healthy husband’s unusual stroke, recovery progress, and alarming setbacks. Our guest’s compliment triggered a
It’s a Marathon: Crossing the Publication Finish Line by Beth Mathews Read More »
Are you tired of Twitter? Allergic to TikTok? Resistant to making Instagram reels? For the last six months, I was. Having enjoyed learning some new social media skills in 2021—ah, those months when making reels was actually fun!—my interest began to fade in late 2022, especially as the algorithms kept changing. Then Elon Musk bought
I’ve got some go-to hikes. Mt. Marathon’s Jeep trail. Lost Lake. Routine routes, my basis, build a training base. There are surprises. Birds, conditions, thoughts. The same trail is different every hike. But getting the goods – exercise, fresh air, mindset reset – is the same. All I have to do is go. I’ve got
Writing and Recreating by Sean Ulman Read More »
Step 1: READ YOUR BRAINS OUT Move to a town famous for its writing culture. Maybe there’s a fancy MFA program you wouldn’t even try to get into, or a local history of invested writers, and nearly every barista slinging lattes and croissants has published a volume of poetry. Immerse yourself in the regional literature,
How to Write a Novel in 25 Years or Less by Christine Byl Read More »
