These days, it is normal for authors to go to writing workshops – or teach them. So why does the idea they produce derivative writers persist?What makes a writer? How do you become one? When I was younger, even asking those questions seemed to disqualify me: a writer isn’t something one becomes, I thought, a writer just is. Despite writing, rewriting and reading all through my 20s, I was no closer to completing, let alone publishing, a novel. I realised I would need help if I was going to succeed, and I applied to several creative writing MAs.This was, depending on who you ask, either a decision that condemned my writing to being forever derivative and tired, or, an important step on the path towards the publication of my first book. The debate about the value of a degree in creative writing has been done, one might think, to death – good writing depends on an innate facility that cannot be taught, versus good writing depends on devoted time, support, and elements of craft that can be studied – yet it continues to rage. This week, a much-lauded debut novel was criticised in a review by an author for its “MA creative writing-speak” and “oh so tediously writing workshop description”. For some, “writing workshop” is shorthand for bad. But why?'One must have in mind between 68 and 73% of the ending' before starting a story, my teacher once advised Related: Buy a cat, stay up late, don't drink: top 10 writers’ tips on writing Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2018-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With her new book ‘Apples Never Fall’ and another TV adaptation with Nicole Kidman, Liane Moriarty doesn’t care how you categorize her books. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-10 11:00:00 UTC ]
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An Arts Council-funded scheme to support writers from a range of underrepresented backgrounds has revealed its first intake of 14 budding writers, who will be mentored by book editors. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-02 21:17:19 UTC ]
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Women in media in Kabul tell of trying to destroy traces of their identity as they brace for Taliban retributionWhen president Ashraf Ghani slipped out of Afghanistan with no warning, he took with him any glimpse of hope left for the nation’s women – especially those who are educated and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-08-16 08:37:35 UTC ]
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The stories and perspectives of Native American citizens have been consigned to the margins for centuries; Winter Counts is a response to that Native Americans in the United States remain largely marginalised in popular culture. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-15 06:10:45 UTC ]
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On this day in 1937, the prolific author Walter Dean Myers was born Walter Milton Myers in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The three-time National Book Award finalist was known for his realistic, groundbreaking, affecting portrayals of the Black urban experience, which did not shy away from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-08-12 14:30:33 UTC ]
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Author James Patterson and singer Dolly Parton have teamed up to write a novel about a young woman who comes to Nashville to pursue her music-making dreams. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-11 08:44:53 UTC ]
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An independent bookshop spotlighting women’s writing is opening in Edinburgh today (6th August), inspired by a successful book club. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 19:47:21 UTC ]
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The Nan Shepherd Prize is returning this month, coinciding with the publication of Small Bodies of Water by the prize's inaugural winner, Nina Mingya Powles. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-06 18:40:15 UTC ]
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Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Review of Books published a fairly wild essay by Miguel Esteban who, at the tender age of 14, commissioned a now-famous essay on race in science fiction from Octavia Butler. The whole piece is worth a read (the gall of teenage boys! the grace of Octavia!) but... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-07-26 13:40:52 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House said the book, tentatively coming in 2022, would be “an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-07-19 20:26:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House announces book is expected in late 2022 with proceeds going to charityThe Duke of Sussex has agreed a publishing deal to write his memoirs and said he would do so “not as the prince I was born, but as the man I have become”.The global deal for his “literary memoir” was... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-07-19 18:37:55 UTC ]
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Lauren Child's latest story focuses on Christmas in a Clarice Bean story that is full of empathy and hope Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-17 02:08:43 UTC ]
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Reissued tales of classic journeys are being snapped up as Britons long for escape while having to stay at homeSome will go on a “great trudge” from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul. Others will explore the canyonlands of Utah or the mountains of Iran. But there is one idiosyncrasy they will all... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-07-04 07:30:15 UTC ]
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The organisers of the 2021 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival have apologised for not including any female writers of colour in the programme . Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-07-02 16:32:23 UTC ]
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Walker Books is launching its third Young Sportswriter of the Year competition, in partnership with the Guardian and the Football School series of books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-10 01:41:47 UTC ]
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Santanu Battacharya has won Spread the Word’s Life Writing Prize 2021, with "The Nicer One", hailed by judges as a "gut-punch of a piece". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-06-09 14:59:56 UTC ]
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I have known plenty of failure in my writing life. Inspired partly by Henry David Thoreau, I set out to be a writer after college. Which effectively meant that I worked part-time as a carpenter and bookseller for the next dozen years without publishing a word. My current day job is as a teacher... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-06-04 08:49:40 UTC ]
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At the Los Angeles Times, artists reflect on the enduring legacy of children’s book author and illustrator Eric Carle, whose spellbinding images and narratives captured readers’ imaginations for generations. “Carle’s ultimate gift was the idea of creation,” Daric Cottingham says, “the notion... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-06-03 20:30:21 UTC ]
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Here I am. Writing about mangoes, while eating a mango. I am a stereotype dream come true. “I try to avoid any mention of mangoes, of spices and monsoons,” said writer Jeet Thayil, in an NPR interview a few years ago. Yes, these are the stereotypes that we are often pigeonholed in. I debated and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-28 09:09:52 UTC ]
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Arts Council England has announced the details of a £42m fund to boost local libraries, creative projects and museums across the country. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-24 06:43:36 UTC ]
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