Like a Virgin: Second Drafts
The great thing about the first draft is that it can be as stupid as you want. All you have to do is type shit into the keyboard. Then, after 80k words (or, you know, whatever) and one month to…
Category: The Writing Life
An Interview with Lauren Groff, Author of Fates and Furies
Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies elbowed out some of its competition last Wednesday when the National Book Award announced its 2015 finalists, but of any writer I know, I don’t expect such adulation to go to Groff’s head. I first…
Friday Feast: Questions to Ask During “The Call,” Submission Secrets, Book PR Lead Time, Fiction vs. Fact, and Awesome Places Ruined by Popular Books
Happy Friday, folks. Apple picking season is in full effect here at Dead Darlings headquarters in Boston. And much like those daytrippers who peruse the sweet and tangy offerings of bucolic family farms, I’m up to my ears in fantastic bookish…
Why Not to Work on Your Novel
I assume if you are reading this blog, you either have been or currently are in the middle of the long slog that is writing a novel. I am. I’m in year three, and still I don’t see an end….
Meeting Susan Donovan: The Bestselling Author With My Name
I’ve been struggling with this blog post over the last couple of weeks, trying to shape an idea into something constructive. What I wanted to do was write about acknowledgements pages, how writers use them in different ways, everything from…
Friday Feast: In Praise of Rejection, Writers Who Give Up, Things Writers Know, Perfect Practice, and Six Debut Novelists Look Back
Fall is the time of year when I most feel the pressure to get the words on the page and revise the stories that I allowed to languish all summer (or since last year). Maybe it’s because October is a…