Writing

stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Ray Bradbury on Writing

For this final day of NaNoWriMo, here are some words of wisdom from one of the most prolific and best known American authors. “if you are writing without zest, without gusto, without love, without fun, you are only half a writer. It means you are so busy keeping one eye on the commercial market, or […]

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Steph Cha on Writing Process

Steph Cha starts her day by reading and writing Yelp reviews. “That’s where I get my junky habitual writing done, which has been really helpful to me. I’ve been doing it my whole career. I’ve Yelped every restaurant I’ve ever been to. I also Yelped an eye doctor today. It’s just a habit I’ve always

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Quotation: On Outlining a Novel

With a nod to NaNoWriMo, this month’s quotations focus on how novelists approach the process of creating a novel. Last week featured two quotations from writers who don’t outline their novels, so it’s only fair to include a representative from the other side of the issue here: “I do a very concise outline. Part of

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

The lofty goals and short life of the antiracist book club “After George Floyd’s death, many white Americans formed book clubs. A year later, they’re wondering, ‘What now?’” Today, just a few of the antiracist book clubs formed during the height of protests soldier on. They’re taking their time to learn how America got this

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Quotation: Are You a Plotter or a Pantser (Again)?

Related Post: Quotation: Are You a Plotter or a Pantser? “Like many writers I know, I do not (so far) outline my work in advance. I begin a novel with a destination in mind but the route is vague. Any attempt to map the journey will, I worry, render the unwritten pages artificial and ridiculous.”

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Quotation: Are You a Plotter or a Pantser?

Those of you participating in NaNoWriMo will know what that question means: Do you plot out your novel beforehand, or do you compose by the seat of your pants? As a nonfiction writer, I’m way over on the plotter side of this spectrum. However, I have had the experience of writing in flow, during which

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stack of books and open notebook. Label: Quotation

Quotation: On Characters

Because it’s NaNoWriMo, all this month’s quotations will swirl around the general topic of writing fiction. Here’s a suggestion on how to get started. “Once you create the character — if the character is really well done, complex enough and interesting enough — the character is going to create the story for you. . .

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stack of books next to open notebook with pen

Hello, National Novel Writing Month!

I don’t write fiction. However, I know that a lot of you who read and review novels also write them. So it’s only right that we all greet NaNoWriMo. Do you participate in NaNoWriMo? If you do, I’ll be reading while you’re writing. For both the readers and the writers, here’s some information on the

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Last Week's Links

Literary Links

An Innocent Abroad: Joan Didion’s Midlife Crisis Novelist, short story writer, critic and retired English professor Scott Bradfield grew up in California but had difficulty “[l]earning how to write fictions set in California”: California is filled with so many vivid pleasures, smells, textures, and absurdities of human character that it feels difficult, or even impossible,

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feature: Life Stories in Literature

Quotation: “characters come to tell me their backstory”

“When I embark on a writing project, my characters come to tell me their backstory. Very little of it—perhaps none—might be referred to in the final draft, but it’s there nonetheless, hiding in the decisions that each character makes, driving their reaction to every event. They tell me, these characters, of past incidents, big and

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