In a recent TED talk, book designer Chip Kidd explores the relationship between form and content based on his 25 years in the business. A book cover, he says, is a “distillation” or “haiku” of the story that should make a reader want to open the book to find out what happens next. Kidd makes […]
Read Me: by James Black Read More »
When you’re trying to bring a story together before you’ve written it, that’s story development. Story development can often feel complicated, frustrating, and unsatisfying. In part, we’re trying to get at the heart of the beast by giving it bones when we outline, and in part we are often removed from our sense of playfulness
Improvising a Story: by Angie Powers Read More »
Let me tell you about the disease that I’ve contracted: it’s nearly fatal to me, as a writer. And I’m pretty sure if I don’t lick it, it will eventually change me for the worse and I’ll be mired in profound unhappiness. It’s caused me to almost stop writing for good. Twice this week so
Near-fatal disease: by Devi Laskar Read More »
Part One: Carry a Notebook (Or The Updated Version) The other day as we were walking through our yard to the car, one of my children said something to me that triggered a wonderful idea for a blog. “I should write this down,” I said to myself, but instead we got into the car and
Get Started & Finishing: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
This is my day to mimic the great poet (and happily, my teacher) Dean Young who has a style all his own in getting his poems from point A to point Q in a non-linear fashion that is so entertaining and yet, that dreaded word, educational: “The kids are out of school this week for
There’s drafting and then there’s drafting: by Devi Laskar Read More »
I’m perfectly willing to dash my characters’ dreams. Sometimes I enjoy doing it; sometimes I feel remorseful. But I have no reason to coddle them. The characters are not my children. The stories are my children, and I want them to be the best they can be. I want them to be what they need
Hard to Get: by James Black Read More »
Writing is a solitary enterprise. Some of us leap out of bed in the early mornings, dash to our desks and write for two hours before breakfast. These are the same people who wrote their first novel at the ripe age of 19 and are living beautiful glamorous lives. Most of us aren’t so lucky.
Buddy Up & Check In: by Devi Laskar Read More »
Since I have had some success getting novel chapters published as short stories and have won a prize or two along the way, Elizabeth asked me to write something about my process for the Book Writing World. My most important tool in this process is Poets and Writers magazine, to which I subscribe. P&W has
Contests, prize money and boosts: by Leslie Rodd Read More »
I’ve been a journalist and a fiction-writer-in-training for many years now, and I don’t feel as though it’s getting any easier with the passage of time. I’ve written so much and I’ve met so many nonfiction deadlines for daily newspapers; and yet, every time I sit to write, that all too familiar pit in my
Daily means every day, no exceptions: by Devi Laskar Read More »
Last night one of my children and I both got sick. He recovered much more quickly than I did, which meant that I was home, trying to relax and recover, with an energetic almost-five-year-old. I still managed to read through and edit about twenty pages of my manuscript. I’m at a pretty fun stage in
The Best Laid Plans: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
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