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The Mathematics of Writing: Is There a Formula for Creative Success?
Wouldn’t it be great if there were a mathematical formula for writing? Maybe there is. In the October/September The Writer’s Chronicle poet/teacher Leslie Ullman writes of her fascination with the...
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Why Don’t Writers Have a Lingo for Their Writing?
When a police officer arrests a suspect it’s called a collar. If he plants evidence it’s called a ham sandwich. When a firefighter responds to a fire, it’s known as putting the wet stuff on the hot...
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Gordon Lish: Editor, Writer, but Best of All, Teacher
The literary world seems fascinated with Gordon Lish. I can’t blame them—I am too. Lish is the writer and editor who, while at Esquire and later at Alfred A. Knopf, brought Raymond Carver into...
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How an Ellipsis Illustrates Human Obsession…or Why I Quit a Career as a...
Some of you know that I was a graphic designer and had a small business for 14 years. I don’t mention it often, since despite the artistic aspect those days don’t connect very well with my career as a...
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Back in the Submissions Saddle Again: But with a New Perspective
It had been six months since I submitted to a literary journal, but this week I logged into Duotrope, opened up my story database, and got back on that horse. I needed the break, and I think it did me...
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Should Writers and Artists Be Comfortable?
Here are two excerpts from an opinion piece by Gary Gutting, a professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. The column, titled “The Real Humanities Crisis,” ran in The New York Times on...
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Why I’m Not Planning My Work in Progress
Those of you who follow this blog will be saddened to learn of the passing of our friend Jon Zech this past Friday. He was a writer and a friend. He fought a long battle with cancer. Death may have...
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Why I’m No Longer Writing S&M (Simile and Metaphor)
My blog is still coming to you from the State of Michigan. I won’t bore you with the details, but the record snow, the record cold, and the lack of movement on our home here has made getting out of...
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For Writers Overwhelmed by Technology, Is More Technology the Answer?
Well, that’s what the tech people want you to believe. This week Jane Friedman’s excellent blog posted a list of 10 new apps created, supposedly, to help writers stay focused on writing. The first...
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MFA vs NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction—A Book Review and Some Musings
I was excited about this book as soon as it came out. What self-respecting MFA who’s spent years trying to catch a break with NYC agents wouldn’t be? Perhaps it would contain some answers to those...
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MFA vs NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction—A Book Review and Some...
Part 1 here Q: Am I a better writer because of my MFA? A: No doubt about it. Q: Did I thoroughly enjoy the experience of those two years? A: I’d do it again in a heartbeat. So then what’s the...
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The Silenced Story
In a response to last week’s post about MFA vs. NYC, a commenter who goes by the avatar Joplingirl noted that, “Finding a voice is inherently about bringing to the page a silenced story.” I love that...
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Does Your Writing Stand Up in the Light of Day?
With a daytime job, a crazy dog, reading for TLR, and a host of house showings[1], I do most of my writing at night. It’s the only time the real world calms down enough to allow me the focus needed to...
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First Chapters
Ask me what I’m reading these days and I’ll tell you, “First chapters.” That’s not the title of a book—I’m reading the first chapters of some of the books on my favorites shelf. Often, not even the...
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How a Libertarian’s Insane Argument Exposes a Lit World Paradox
A blogger friend this week hosted a discussion about the US economy, and added a clip from a recent “PBS Newshour.” The clip featured libertarian and economics professor Richard Epstein, who incensed...
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Your Writing: Is It Art?
First, let me say that if I could, I would spend my days writing. I wouldn’t blog, I wouldn’t tweet, I wouldn’t spend time marketing or promoting myself other than to participate in readings. And if I...
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Art or Business, Part 3: My Conscience Bothers Me, And I Hope It Always Will
Why the sudden interest in whether your and my writing is art or business? A few weeks ago, an established writer sent a long, and well-thought-out Facebook post[1] explaining why he would never submit...
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My Decision to Self Publish: Why This? Why Now?
So I wrote this book a few years ago for my MFA thesis project called The Ballo Brothers. I thought it was pretty good. In fact, an agent thought it was pretty good too, and signed me up for...
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Real World News Derailing My Fiction
I should start writing fantasies. Two weeks ago I finished what I hope is the final draft of a story that takes place in an exclusive New York condo tower. I was inspired to write it by an ad that...
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Do you Feel a Draft When You Write?
What is considered a draft of a piece of writing? In a CNN article, Todd Leopold writes that when Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan writes a novel, it may go through fifty or sixty drafts....
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