Posts Tagged ‘Writing process’
The Author In Autumn
I remember a walk I took at twilight nearly twenty years ago. I was living in Menthon-St.-Bernard, France then, a mountainous region in Haute Savoie on a deep lake. My Best Beloved and I lived in a house a ways up the mountain, perhaps a twenty minute walk up the steep path from Menthon itself…
Read More10 Hard truths about writing
Recently, a student told me she was too scatterbrained to write her novel without help, and that she needed someone to crack the whip, set deadlines, help her focus, etc. She said she needed an editor or a partner, or both. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that sort of thing from writing students.…
Read MoreSHARPENING THE QUILL WORKSHOPS
I am thrilled to announce I’ve begun creative writing workshops in Princeton – last Saturday of every month! I invite you to join us. Although we’re just beginning. We are already a group of friendly, supportive writers — some just starting on the writer’s journey, others already well published. Fiction, memoir, poetry, flash fiction, creative…
Read MoreWhy are you doing this?
It’s hard not to be overwhelmed by bad news these days. Financial problems, health care ‘debate’ incivility, bombings in subway stations, natural disasters…. it’s grim, and seemingly ubiquitous. Writers and booksellers are no stranger to dire predictions and this week two articles were brought to my attention. One was a blog post from New York…
Read MoreWriting as a butterfly net…
It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches the changes…
Read MoreThe God of Small Things
“Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.” – William Zinsser A friend of mine is taking a writing class with William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well. I was surprised when she told me several of her classmates quit the class when Zinsser gently insisted on talking about the process of writing,…
Read MoreThe new book is here!
No matter how old I get, no matter how many books I’ve published, there’s something about the moment when the doorbell rings and the man at the door says, “Delivery for Davis, six boxes of books,” that just makes me giddy. My new book arrived this morning! And like any new parent, I think it’s…
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