Category Writing and Publishing

She had too much so with a smile you took some. Of everything she had you had Absolutely nothing, so you took some. At first, just a little. Still she had so much she made you feel Your vacuum, which…

Here’s a tip for making writing goals in 2015: don’t focus on accolades and publications. Instead, focus on output. As a writer, you have no control over what people think of your work. That means you have no control over…

Here’s part of an essay by Junot Diaz about the difficulty he had writing The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008. It’s pretty astounding what he went through. This essay originally appeared in…

Jack London may have been frequently drunk but he was also like the Stephen King of his day–the most famous, highest-paid writer around. He wrote 1,000 words a day, 6 days a week. This discipined practice allowed him to be…

“I’se so drunk right now.” “Iz this sail-ma-bob thing help me stand?” “Whee I on a tree bench!” “Look at ma bootiful body. Athlete.” “These guys are the BEST. Best guys, youdon’tevenknow.” “Okay, horsie, you hold still, I’sa goin’ ride…

One often hears of writers that rise and swell with their subject, though it may seem but an ordinary one. How, then, with me, writing of this Leviathan? Unconsciously my chirography expands into placard capitals. Give me a condor’s quill!…

From Margaret Atwood’s interview in The Paris Review: INTERVIEWER Has motherhood made you feel differently about yourself? ATWOOD There was a period in my early career that was determined by the images of women writers I was exposed to—women writers…

Everyone wants to be a professional writer! Or so it seems sometimes. In my life, it’s more unusual to come across someone who doesn’t want to write than someone who does. I love my job, but writing is very difficult.…

This feels very true.

I put a lotus flower in a piece of fiction I’m writing. In the scene, I started to describe the center of the lotus flower, but then I realized I didn’t have a clear idea what it looked like, so…