the writing life
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What We Eventually Remember
Over at PEN, Emily St. John Mandel chats about forming an identity: I’d been a dancer all my life but didn’t really want to dance anymore. I spent a great deal of time scheming desperately to get back to New…
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From Applebee’s to Published Author
Scott Cheshire explains that he started flirting with the woman who became his wife by telling her he had a novel coming out. Twelve years later, it did. Today, he is a published novelist with a graduate degree, but back…
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Struggling Writer, The Game
The Los Angeles Times surveyed over 200 writers, asked them how they got to where they are, assembled the pieces, and made this.
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The Rumpus Interview with Dani Shapiro
Author Dani Shapiro talks about her latest book, Still Writing, MFA vs. NYC vs. life in bucolic CT, and the lure of Internet.
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Why MFA?: The Rumpus Interview with Tom Kealey and Robin Tung
Tom Kealey and Robin Tung on why they advocate for prospective MFA students, the MFA application process, and why we pursue MFAs in the first place.
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So, You Want to Be a Great Writer?
Well, then. If you want to be a great writer, here is what you have to do. Some walked to get away from work, to clear the mind of words and embrace direct experience; others, to ruminate on their scribbled…
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Keep Failing
Don’t let that stack of rejection letters get you down. For writers of all kinds—would-be, struggling, under-appreciated, even critically acclaimed—failure is part of the job description. At the New York Times, Stephen Marche describes a writing profession riddled with disappointment and…
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Away, But Not Away
How can writers get a room of their own, literally or figuratively? In Away, an essay in the summer issue of the Virginia Quarterly Review, Roxana Robinson writes about carving out private space in the midst of being over-saturated by the world around…
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Living Life Improves Writing
Good writing comes not just from learning craft and reading books, but from accumulated life experiences, argues Rachel Jelinek aver at the The Missouri Review. The quality of those experiences aren’t necessarily defined by how exotic they are, either. Learning…
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Publishers Are Rich
Writers have been getting poorer, and it turns out publishers are partly to blame. The Guardian reports that while authors are expected to do more when it comes to marketing and promotion, and though electronic books have lowered costs for publishers,…
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Back to the Beginning: Why I Write
In the beginning the words flowed like honey, like maple syrup, like corn syrup; yes, the metaphors flowed just like that.
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Too Many Words is Too Many Words
Watch this gorgeous video about the writing life of modern literary giant Haruki Murakami. Discover how he manages to seep into the minds of so many of his readers, creating a personal connection with his vast readership, video creator Ilana…