10 Tips On Writing From Joyce Carol Oates

Write your heart out.

The first sentence can be written only after the last sentence has been written. FIRST DRAFTS ARE HELL. FINAL DRAFTS, PARADISE.

You are writing for your contemporaries — not for Posterity. If you are lucky, your contemporaries will become Posterity.

Here are just 3 of the tips on writing from Joyce Carol Oates over at Brain Pickings. You know you want to read the other 7.

Share
Tweet
Share

Ashley Perez lives, writes, and causes trouble in Los Angeles. She has a strong affinity for tattoos, otters, cat mystery books, and actual cats, but has mixed feelings about pants. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She runs the literary site Arts Collide and does work of all varieties for Women Who Submit, Entropy, Jaded Ibis Press, and Why There Are Words. You can find her on Twitter at @ArtsCollide.

You May Also Like

The Rumpus publishes original fiction, poetry, literary humor writing, comics, essays, book reviews, and interviews with authors and artists of all kinds. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers our readers may already know and love. We want to bring new perspectives into the conversation that will make us all look deeper.

We believe that literature builds community—and if reading The Rumpus makes you feel more connected, please show your support! Get your Rumpus merch in our online store. Subscribe to receive Letters in the Mail from authors, join us by becoming a monthly or yearly Member and/or make a tax-deductible donation here.

We support independent bookstores! 10% of sales on any titles purchased through our Bookshop.org page or affiliate links benefits the magazine.

The Rumpus in your Inbox!
The Rumpus
© 2023, The Rumpus.

The Rumpus needs your help. We need to raise $25,000 $10,000 to fill our funding gap for 2024.

Our home base is Asheville, NC and Hurricane Helene severely impacted our ability to host events, launch new initiatives, and caused other significant financial setbacks this fall.

Can you support us at any level by Dec. 31? Every dollar counts and is a sign that our readers collectively value creative labor and independent publishing.

YEs, I'd like to help!

Sign up for the weekly Rumpus

Once a week, we'll send you a roundup of what's new on the magazine, invites to upcoming events, open calls for submissions, and more!

Total
0
Share