Writing is Hard

Writing is hard for everybody except fools. (The Writer January 2003, From "What I know, for sure ... I think" by Susan Elizabeth Philips.)

One of My Favorite Books: Everything That Rises Must Converge

FAVORITES: Everything That Rises Must Converge (Flannery O’Connor)

The stories “The Enduring Chill” and “Parker’s Back” are masterpieces of construction and meaning. I 've read “The Enduring Chill” over one hundred times and I still see new things.


Everything That Rises Must Converge

The Emotions of a Character

Everything in your story will have greater impact if you have your character interpret it emotionally. Involve the five senses to give your writing strong sensory texture, then make sure you convey you character’s emotional assessment of what she experiences.(From “Fiction’s Connecting Link: Emotion” by Kathy Jacobson from the book The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing.

Does the University Stifle Writers?

Everywhere I go I'm asked if the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher. (Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners, HBJ Publishers)

Writing Advice: The Complication

"To be of literary value a complication must be not only basic but also significant to the human condition." (Jon Franklin, WRITING FOR STORY, p.75)

Quote: Opening a Vein

There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.(Red Smith)

About the Job of Writing (Amy Bloom)

There's no turning back [when you start writing]. It's good news and bad news. The good news is that if this is what you really want to do, you will do it. The bad news is that however much you may want to do this, nothing more may come of it than the writing itself, so you better really prize that process, because maybe other people will read it and maybe only your writing group will read it. It's very difficult for people to do. There's that great line from Red Smith: "There's nothing to writing. You just sit at the typewriter until drops of blood fall." There's nothing to it but to do it. If you must write, you will. If you're lucky, maybe it'll turn out that you don't have to write. Maybe you could just garden, or do ceramics, or something else. (from an interview with Amy Bloom by Sarah Ann Johnson)