From the New York Times Opinionator Draft essay by Henry Hitchings.
Tag Archives: writing advice
Free Books Recommended by Hemingway for Aspiring Writers
Free Books Recommended by Hemingway for Aspiring Writers
The fine folks at GalleyCat kindly put together a list of many of Hemingway’s recommendations for aspiring writers, and the best part is they’re available online for free (just hit the link above Papa Ernie’s head).
The advantages of writing in bed
Writing in bed is not just about convenience or comfort. I think there’s a psychological advantage, too. If you write in bed in the early morning you occupy an intriguing part of consciousness, somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness. Part of you is still in the shadowy cave of dream world; part of you is adjusting to the sharp brightness of reality. The mixture is fruitful and often suggestive.
Read Robert McCrum’s original article for the Guardian here.
38 Common Spelling and Grammar Errors
John Green, of Mental Floss fame, takes a look at common spelling and grammar errors such as “Stationery vs. Stationary,” “Good vs. Well” and “Loose vs. Lose.”
Who Decides If You’re A “Real” Writer Or Not?
Amanda Palmer takes the stage at the Muse as part of their NEA- funded “Publish it Forward” series.
It’s a very interesting talk on what it means to be a writer in the digital age.
Anne Bernays on Thinking Like a Writer
You can teach almost anyone determined to learn the basics required to write sentences and paragraphs that say what you want them to say clearly and concisely. It’s far more difficult to get people to think like a writer, to give up conventional habits of mind and emotion. You must be able to step inside your character’s skin and at the same time to remain outside the dicey circumstances you have maneuvered her into. I can’t remember how many times I advised students to stop writing the sunny hours and write from where it hurts: “No one wants to read polite. It puts them to sleep.”
Allegra Goodman Says, “Do Not Sit and Mope!”
Now you may ask, what if my characters won’t talk to me? What if they won’t even visit? The only answer is to think and think some more, and then go out and read and look and listen some more. Do not sit and mope. Do not sigh. Do not throw up your hands and give up on the whole project. Do not go back to the drawing board. There is nothing more depressing than an empty drawing board. No, go back to the world, which is where all characters originally come from.
Annie Dillard Answers the Question, “Who Will Teach Me to Write?”
Who will teach me to write? a reader wanted to know. The page, the page, the blankness of eternity which you cover slowly, affirming time’s scrawl as a right and your daring as necessity; the page, which you cover woodenly, ruining it, but asserting your freedom and power to act, acknowledging that you ruin everything you touch but touching it nevertheless, because acting is better than being here in mere opacity; the page, which you cover slowly with the crabbed thread of your gut; the page in the purity of its possibilities; the page of your death, against which you pit such flawed excellences as you can muster with all your life’s strength: that page will teach you to write.
A Message From John Updike: “Don’t be thin-skinned.”
Try to develop steady work habits, maybe a more modest quota, but keep to it. Don’t be thin-skinned or easily discouraged because it’s an odds-long proposition; all of the arts are. Many are called, few are chosen, but it might be you.
Sally FOURTH (get it? get it?) and be writeful.
Tony Bill: “Forget the Mumbo Jumbo and Just Write the Damn Script.”
Get a hold of three or four terrific original scripts. You decide which ones. Read them; analyze them if you want, or just let them wash over you. Notice their format: it’s standard in the industry, no exceptions. Then throw away or erase from memory all the books, articles, and lessons that reference or espouse three-act structures, five- and seven-act structures, “inciting events,” “character arcs,” “redemption,” Joseph Campbell’s name, plot graphs and charts, or supposed “tricks of the trade.” Forget the mumbo jumbo and just write the damn script and finish it in 120 pages or less. If you’re sufficiently talented, original, and inspired, nothing else is necessary. If you’re not, nothing else will help. If it turns out that you lack one or all of those elements, write another script. Maybe another. Give up when you can’t take it anymore. The time saved by not reading all those how-to books should be enough to carry you through the first several scripts at least, with time to spare. Sound cruel? Ask any screenwriter.
Sally forth and be writeful… and enjoy your weekend.
MADD FICTIONAL 