5 things you should expect when writing short stories, according to Eden Robinson
cbc.ca – Friday October 13, 2017
Eden Robinson's latest book, Son of a Trickster, is a finalist for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Son of a Trickster is a fantastical coming-of-age story about a teenage burnout visited by strange apparitions, and was recently defended by Anishinaabe comedian Ryan McMahon on Turtle Island Reads. Her first novel, Monkey Beach, was shortlisted for a Governor General's Literary Award and Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2000.
Robinson is serving as a jury member for the 2018 CBC Short Story Prize, alongside Heather O'Neill and Kevin Hardcastle. Together, they will determine the winner, who will receive $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, have their story published on CBC Books, and have the opportunity to attend a 10-day writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
For all those already hard at work on a 2018 CBC Short Story Prize submission, Robinson shares five things about expecting the unexpected.
Late Essays by JM Coetzee review – dos and don’ts of classic novel writing
theguardian.com – Thursday October 12, 2017
A writer of JM Coetzee’s stature needs no preamble, and Late Essays does not offer one, plunging the reader directly into the literary criticism that the novelist has accumulated over the past 11 years. Some are expanded versions of his articles for the New York Review of Books; others are published introductions to works of great literature, from Daniel Defoe’s Roxana to Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
Introductions to classic novels comprise an interesting genre of criticism, with its own formal mechanisms. I don’t mean critical pieces prepared by scholars, but “prestige” essays, written by famous writers with a fondness for the book at hand. Yet is there any form of writing more ripe for reinvention? While they are revealing about the culture in general, such introductions rarely tell us anything worthwhile about the text or the acclaimed author’s work. Coetzee’s essays are different; this book emerges as an engaging series of master classes in novel writing, from which we might distil a selection of dos and don’ts.
9 Books On Writing That Will Help You Conquer The Toughest Cases Of Writer's Block
bustle.com – Sunday October 1, 2017
Ask any successful author for advice, and they will all tell you the same thing: to be a great writer, you have to be an avid reader. While its important to stack your TBR pile with the world's greatest works of prose and poetry, it's also essential to include books about the craft itself if you want to improve your writing. From style and grammar guidebooks to insightful essays from the world's best writers, these reads will help you work through even the toughest case of writer's block.
5 Writing Tips: Harlan Coben
publishersweekly.com – Saturday September 30, 2017
Working off my Rule 3, I'm going to skip boring you with a long introductory paragraph and get straight to it:
Michael Ondaatje opens archive to reveal his writing methods
theguardian.com – Monday September 25, 2017
An image of a drunken Oxford party that Michael Ondaatje clipped from a magazine and stuck into a notebook would, years later, inspire a scene in The English Patient, according to the novelist’s archives, which have just been acquired by the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
Ondaatje, in an interview with the Center’s director Stephen Ennis, said he writes around four drafts of a book by hand before moving it on to a typewriter or computer and then “reworking it, printing it out, rewriting it by hand”.
Want to write a bestselling novel? Use an algorithm
theguardian.com – Sunday September 24, 2017
It’s the multimillion pound question that publishers and writers have been pondering for decades: what makes a bestseller? Attempting to write one could certainly pay off – the highest-paid author in the world, JK Rowling, has made $95m (£70m) in the past year, and the 10 highest-paid authors in the world earned more than $310m between them, according to Forbes.
Interactive fiction and mainstream publishers (Part 2)
thebookseller.com – Friday September 22, 2017
In the first part of my look at interactive fiction, I outlined IF’s roots in early computer gaming, and its revival through engaged communities and innovative producers. In this follow-up, I’m going to look at the future of the form - technological advances in voice, language processing and AI that could give interactive fiction greater commercial and creative traction within mainstream publishing.
Rules of writing from an international best seller
cbsnews.com – Sunday September 17, 2017
Famous spy novelist John le Carré shares his writing tips with 60 Minutes, including how he avoids "fuzzy endings” and why he makes verbs do all the work.
Interactive fiction and mainstream publishers (Part 1)
thebookseller.com – Friday September 15, 2017
Interactive fiction may be too strongly associated with computer gaming and general geekery to interest mainstream publishers. In this two-part article I will be looking at what they can learn from the strong community engagement in the interactive fiction market, and how technologies like artificial intelligence could transform it.
Book doulas: the new way to push your writing into the world
theguardian.com – Wednesday September 6, 2017
“Are book doulas a thing?” asks a writer I know. “I’d love to get one.”
Book doulas are a thing, because where there is a need, there is a service. Traditionally, they were non-medically trained professionals who cared for the emotional wellbeing of women in labour. These days, doulas are used in many other contexts where you may need someone to ease you through a process and provide emotional support, for instance abortion, divorce, death – and, now, for writing books.
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