Posts by author
Ian MacAllen
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Visualizing Police Brutality
Just in case the events unfolding in Ferguson aren’t enough of a reminder of the effects of overly aggressive police, The K Chronicles is compiling a series of police brutality strips.
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Distractions and the Art of Creation
Alexandra Wuest, writing at HTMLGIANT, looks at the distinction between procrastination and the useful distraction that is a necessary part of the creative act: Somewhere between the initial conception of an idea and the completion of the project exists a…
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In Search of Inner Voice
Researches are taking advantage of the Edinburgh International Book Festival to look for the source of authors’ inner voice. Many writers describe hearing characters’ or narrators’ voices speaking to them. The researchers are looking to establish what the inner voice…
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Cover Prices
Printing pricing information on book covers has long been a standard practice to help track inventory. The suggested pricing also helps increase the perceived value of books. The internet, especially Amazon, has changed that perception of value leading some booksellers…
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Writing Blind
Writing and revising can be challenging under the best of circumstances, but imaging being unable to see the words on the page. At The Airship Daily, Tammy Ruggles writes about her life as a visually impaired writer: Before the computer…
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Homesteading Detroit
Detroit has a large inventory of vacant homes. Two years ago, Toby Barlow thought a great way to repopulate the city–and get new taxpayers–would be giving houses away to writers. Write a House plans on giving away its first house…
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Writing in the Discomfort Zone
Traumatic experiences can elicit strong reactions from readers, but first writers must overcome the challenge of confronting the emotionally uncomfortable situation. At Beyond the Margins, Juliette Fay describes writing from her discomfort zone: I learned more about the gruesomely creative…
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Memoir vs. Status Updates
In an era when people live tweet every aspect of their lives, the memoir might seem an antiquated notion. Dani Shapiro disagrees. Status updates are immediate, instant acts of narcissism. Writing a memoir requires introspection and distance. Shapiro explains over…
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Peak Dystopia
Adam Sternbergh, author of Dystopian novel Shovel Ready, asked whether readers are burning out on the Dystopian novel. He goes as far as suggesting that perhaps the next great novel will be a Utopian one. Emily Temple, writing at Flavorwire,…
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Notable NYC: 8/23–8/29
Saturday 8/23: Junot Diaz signs books. La Casa Azul Bookstore, 3 p.m., free. Monday 8/25: Vanessa Manko launches The Invention of Exile with Salman Rushdie, and sponsored by HIP Lit. Manko’s debut novel follows a Russian inventor’s immigration to Connecticut…
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John Freeman Talks With Roxane Gay
John Freeman knows authors. Last year he published How To Read a Novelist, a collection of 55 author interviews. In this month’s issue of BOMB, Freeman interviewed Rumpus Essays Editor Emeritus Roxane Gay calling her “the best thing that came out of Nebraska since…
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Jane Austen’s Pin Cushion
Jane Austen invented a clever way of editing her manuscripts: pins. Without the convenience of electronic word processors, Austen relied on a method of pinning snippets of text into her manuscript drafts. Open Culture looks at The Watsons, one of…