This has got to be some of the best advice on novel-writing (or any creative writing, really) I’ve read in awhile. I finally feel, like the author Elizabeth Percer, that I’ve reached a point where I trust myself and my process.
Elizabeth Percer’s latest novel, “All Stories are Love Stories” is available through Harper Collins Publishers.
If Charlie Kaufman decides not to write another screenplay, that will of course be a great loss. I’ve written here before about his latest film, Anomalisa (2015), as well as my fandom for what I call his “aesthetic of despair.”
Years ago, I read this installment of one of my favorite series, The Atlantic‘s “By Heart,” in which authors discuss their favorite literary works and one-liners. At the time, I don’t think I fully understood the Camus line Faye Weldon quoted. I just wanted to read an interview with a successful author and television writer (an ambition of mine that has since evolved).
Not even a year after the publication of a new manuscript, Go Set a Watchman, American author Harper Lee has passed away at the age of 89. Lee is perhaps remembered most lovingly for that grade-school book report staple To Kill a Mockingbird.
I want to take this opportunity not to mourn, because authors have the unique ability to live on in their works, but to focus on a moment in Lee’s early life and writing: her friendship with Truman Capote. Continue reading
The Atlantic magazine online recently published the latest edition of their writer-centric “By Heart” series, which interviews writers about their favorite quotes and best writing advice. This week’s interview with Tony Tulathimutte addressed why characters (and the authors behind them!) have a moral prerogative to be “good people.” Continue reading
In 2014, something nuts happened. A string of literary dispute violence in Russia. An argument involving Emmanuel Kant ended with gunshots, then this (reporting by The Independent):
“A Russian teacher allegedly killed a friend in a drunken argument over literary genres, investigators have said.
The pair engaged in an animated discussion on the merits of poetry over prose during a drinking session, which soon escalated into a lethal brawl, after the suspect stabbed his friend insisting that poetry was superior.”
Not sure I agree with #5, but I’ve always been a sucker for describing a “shock” of hair.
I’d add the word “literally” to this list, and eliminate most adverbs. But now we’re getting into more contentious waters… What are your most-hated literary cliches?
The Wordsy 