From 'alibi' to 'mauve': what famous writers' most used words say about them
theguardian.com – Friday March 10, 2017
When Ray Bradbury was asked to contribute his favourite word for the 1995 book The Logophile’s Orgy, he chose cinnamon: “The word cinnamon derives, I suppose, from visiting my grandma’s pantry when I was a kid. I loved to read the labels on spice boxes; curries from far places in India and cinnamons from across the world.”
Writing poetry in the age of Twitter and Facebook: 'there are no answers, only questions'
list.co.uk – Wednesday March 8, 2017
Poet Christodoulos Makris did something very brave for his assignment at StAnza. With the best intentions in mind, he asked people to send him links to 'anything they found interesting on the internet'. The first question I ask him is the obvious one: did you get sent anything, well, dodgy? 'No,' he laughs. 'Just links to things I wouldn't normally have come across.'
Learning to code can transform your writing, not just your website
thebookseller.com – Tuesday March 7, 2017
I came to coding like a mute. When I went to a conference presenting a new coding language from Google called Go last month, I realised I couldn't understand what was being said. Later I met with Inês Teles, director of London coding bootcamp Founders & Coders, curious to learn how coding could push my own writing project. But I couldn't explain my ideas as my language wouldn't translate into hers.
“What do you want to do with it?” A simple question I was unable to answer. However, I was told that, if you know how to write code, you can pretty much do anything. So I went along and started learning the basics of web development, starting with HTML and CSS. Little did I realise just how much learning code would teach me about language of the other kind.
The 10 Best Interlinked Short Story Collections
publishersweekly.com – Saturday March 4, 2017
The interconnected stories in Knight's exquisitely crafted collection Eveningland explore the lives of characters living in and around Mobile, Ala., in the years preceding the destruction wrought by a fictional hurricane. Funny, wise, and heartfelt, the stories stand on their own, but also add up to a stunning whole. Here are Knight's picks for 10 interlinked short story collections.
Thinking About Writing Literary Fiction?
psmag.com – Tuesday February 28, 2017
In 2013, James Patterson, the paperback writer whose volumes are typically consumed somewhere between 25,000 and 32,000 feet above ground, made $90 million from book sales. Ninety million dollars. With publishers finally quashing the old-school idea that big-name authors should release no more than a book a year, Patterson opened the floodgates. After assembling a 16-member gang of ghostwriters (provided by Little, Brown and Company, his publisher) and sketching a series of boilerplate plot lines, Team Patterson started cranking into the lowbrow literary universe two to four “BookShots” a month. He says he looks at writing “the way Henry Ford would look at it.” He also says he’s responsible for about one-third of his publisher’s overall book sales.
Susan Hill: ‘Can I be a serious writer, keeping such casual hours?’
theguardian.com – Saturday February 25, 2017
The past is another country. I wrote things differently there. First it was the school day: O-levels, A-levels. I was always writing. Some paint, some play an instrument, some swim fast, some run. I wrote: poems, plays, stories – anything, so long as it was words on paper. During O-levels I started a novel, because I asked advice from the writer Pamela Hansford Johnson, who told me I should.
Writing Issues: Advice I Give: Patrick O’Neil
huffingtonpost.com – Friday February 24, 2017
Patrick O’Neil is the author of the memoir Gun, Needle, Spoon (Dzanc Books). His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Juxtapoz, Salon, The Nervous Breakdown, After Party Magazine, and Razorcake. O’Neil is a contributing editor for Sensitive Skin Magazine, a Pushcart nominee, a two time nominee for Best Of The Net, and a PEN Center USA Professional and former Mentor. In today’s “Writing Issues,” I asked him what advice he would give aspiring authors.
Transparency, targeting, Twitter: what it means to be a literary agent now
thebookseller.com – Monday February 20, 2017
When I first worked in agenting, all submissions from authors were sent in hard copy: towering piles of envelopes containing the first 50 pages with SAEs enclosed for rejection slips. Indeed, many agents still submitted to publishers that way, biking the printed copy round to their offices and waiting for the offer to come in. In those days the book fairs really were where you could get your hands on a hot book – literally – coming to the agent’s table to physically read a proposal before putting an offer in.
8 Tips From Authors To Make Your Writing More Inclusive
bustle.com – Thursday February 9, 2017
Now, more than ever, we need diverse books. We need to read and promote the writing of marginalized authors, or the literary world is going to become one big wash of books about white boys and their dogs. Or middle aged white English professors and their teenage girlfriends. Now is the time to diversify your library. And, if you're a writer, now is the time to make your own writing more inclusive.
7 Details to Consider When Writing Historical Fiction
authorlink.com – Wednesday February 1, 2017
I’ve always considered myself a history buff and have written quite a few historical fiction novels requiring exhaustive amounts of research. Creating believable historical fiction means getting facts straight and making sure that your research and imaginative input inspires the most plausible, complex plots and characters you can possibly bring to life. Here I lay out the top 7 components you need to think about when writing historical fiction.
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