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Tagged Articles for WRITERS
14 August 2010
The public role of the private writer
"...we're living in [an] era where a writer can't just write. They have to be out there. I understand that. Some would argue that readings are part of a writer's job; I would counter that if someone is terrible at an aspect of their job, then they should instead play to their strengths. I fear that a bad reading could be counterproductive."
01 August 2010
A life in writing: Jack Higgins
"Within the space of a single week in 1975 Harry Patterson's life was transformed. It had started in pretty much the same way as every previous week of the past 15 years, with Patterson supplementing his day job as a college lecturer in Leeds by writing moderately successful thrillers in his spare time; it ended with the publication of The Eagle Has Landed, about a plot to kidnap Churchill, written under the pseudonym of Jack Higgins, and a phone call from his accountant. "He asked me what I wanted to get out of my writing," Higgins says. "I replied that I wasn't really sure, before adding as a joke it would be nice to make a million by the time I retired. He then said: 'Well you're a bloody fool. Because you've just earned that much this week. So what are you going to do about it?'""
07 June 2010
Questions that authors are never asked
"What's the most blatant lie you've ever told?"
"While writing, do you take drugs, smoke marijuana or drink alcohol to beef up your creative imagination?"
"How many people have you done away with over the course of your career?"
"Do you ever write naked?"
These and other self-posed questions are answered by Nadine Gordimer, Ian Rankin, Jonathan Coe, Rose Tremain and others.
05 May 2010
Steve Wasserman on the Qualities of a Good Literary Agent
"We as a species, are the storytelling animals. That's not going to change. So a literary agent--whether working in the vineyard of fiction or the republic of nonfiction--has to have a nose for a good story, for a writer who will know how to tell that story, and for some sense of the commercial prospect of such a story might bear. The trick--if it is a trick--is to discover such stories that might actually sell well in one's lifetime as well as the author's lifetime."
29 April 2010
How Successful Writers Maintain Confidence
"There are no universal, cookie-cutter techniques writers can use to keep up their hopes and dreams. Each writer is unique, with an individual temperament, culture and developmental process. But here are some general suggestions all writers can consider to help soldier through periods of doubt."
16 April 2010
Ninety-year-old Wins Poetry Prize
Proving once again that you're never too old.
09 April 2010
End of the MoreWriting writers' site
After a run of five years, MoreWriting is about to close down. The site was set up by Dr Gordon Brooks following the demise of the BBC's Get Writing site and became a popular place for new and experienced writers to congregate. However, despite having over 1800 members, activity has waned in recent times.
03 April 2010
"Mortification" Exposes Writers' Worst Moments
Mortification is a new book that reveals the worst moments of a writer's public life.
"The list of things that can go wrong at a public reading is endless. Will anyone show up? Will they listen? If they listen, will they ask unanswerable questions? Or worse, will there be no questions at all? Will the audience be stifling yawns? Will the reader before you be brilliant while you stumble over your words? Will you forget how to speak? Choke on your tongue? Lose a tooth mid-sentence?"
22 March 2010
Philip Pullman threatened by religious zealots
Philip Pullman, the best selling author, has been threatened by religious zealots amid claims he should be “punished” for a controversial new book about Jesus Christ.
20 February 2010
Audience Development: Critical to Every Writer’s Future
"Mediocre writers with sales & marketing savvy are more likely to succeed in commercial publishing than talented writers without sales & marketing skill."
29 January 2010
You're an Idiot of the 33rd Degree
Angry letter from Mark Twain to snake-oil salesman.
02 December 2009
Do Typewriters Hold the Keys to Fine Writing?
"After five decades and 5m words, Cormac McCarthy is parting company with the faithful typewriter he bought in a Tennessee pawn shop for $50.
Despite his decision to auction his elderly Olivetti – offers around the $15,000 to $20,000 mark, please – not to mention the advent of the PC, McCarthy remains a devotee of the manual typewrite"
15 November 2009
Advice to Aspiring Novelists: Don’t Shoot Yourself
"After the publication of the World According to Garp and numerous other bestsellers, John Irving does not really have to worry about his career. But, for those looking to break into the book-writing business today, Irving is far from envious."
07 November 2009
Are Writers Born?
"Anita Desai, the acclaimed Indian author and Professor Emeritus of creative writing at MIT, reignited the debate this week when, speaking alongside her daughter, Kiran Desai, she suggested creative writing courses ultimately distract writers from finding their own voices. What is needed is peace and quiet for the alchemical process of storytelling to take place.
"Even though I have taught creative writing programmes, they are awful," said Desai. "You have to withdraw into a world you have invented and be alone while you are inventing it. Once you have closed yourself into an inner world, you are truly free. There is no influence, there is no pressure. It's important to say I'm not listening to anyone else...""
29 October 2009
Why has John Le Carré Left His Publisher out in the Cold?
"Why should the fact that a novelist changes the merchandiser of his books be of more headline interest than, say, Martin Amis changing his dentist? Who cares? When the book trade was a cottage industry we did; it's questionable if we do any more. You can remember the title but can you recall, from the top of your head, who published Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall?"
01 June 2009
I'd Rather Not Be a Published Author
She's one of my favourite authors (her debut novel Behind the Scenes at the Museum is a delight to read), but she says she'd rather not have been published.
'Even though she doesn't feel a need to be published, she said she "probably need[s] to write", a distinction which JD Salinger – who hasn't published a word since 1965, despite rumours of shelves groaning with manuscripts – would surely recognise. But it's not an "overwhelming burning urge," she added, suggesting she would "rather potter about in the garden".'
06 May 2009
JG Ballard's Final Story
The New Yorker has published what is thought to be JG Ballard's final short story submission.
20 April 2009
The Missing Piece
"Virginia Woolf's father went in for mountaineering and public groaning, mine for gardening and a kind of tuneless humming; he also liked to walk with his dog Anna by the river Deben in Suffolk. My mother sought relief in pre-Prozac pills called Tofranil, and in novels. I take long walks and do jigsaws."
Margaret Drabble writes about escaping depression.
15 February 2009
Roald Dahl's Writing Place
Roald Dahl worked from a hut he had built in his back garden. No-one was allowed into this private area.
