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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A group of children’s authors, including this year’s Carnegie winner Tanya Landman, is preparing a letter to the education secretary protesting against the way writing is taught in schools. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council England (ACE) has launched a £1.2m fund to support creative writing in schools. Meanwhile, ACE's recently appointed chief executive Darren Henley has urged the government to cease cuts to art funding. Between October 2015 and October 2018, ACE will invest in three funding awards... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amid debate over its usefulness, teachers and students who attended the enormous AWP conference in Minneapolis had only good things to sayMore than 11,000 writers, publishers, students, teachers and dreamers thronged the Minneapolis convention center last week for the annual conference of the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Barnard College named Carmen Ren as the first ever recipient of its Axinn Foundation/Anna Quindlen Award for Creative Writing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House Enterprises is to launch its first interactive online creative writing course. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan is the latest publisher to start offering creative writing tutoring. It will begin... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I was balancing a plate of honeydew in the green room of a book festival when I walked by a white man bemoaning the state of the publishing industry. The man wore a suit, and he spoke to a white woman; both of them looked to be in their 40s. As the man speared a […] The post I Don’t Have To... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2024-03-27 11:05:00 UTC ]
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In her latest short story collection, White Cat, Black Dog, MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellow Kelly Link reinvents seven fairytales into modern, realist short stories about, for example, an aging billionaire choosing a successor, and a house-sitting gig that goes awry. Link is also the author of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-03-28 08:54:06 UTC ]
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Malorie Blackman advises budding authors to pick up on news stories, but Julia Donaldson warns of pitfalls – and Alan Moore says you should read terrible books as well as good onesThe key to being a good writer? It’s being a good reader, authors including Carol Ann Duffy and Alan Moore have said... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-03-02 15:43:52 UTC ]
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If you love Jane Smiley, this episode is for you. Eve and Julie are joined by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author in an interview that was recorded live for Miami Book Fair 2021. They discuss Jane’s most recent book, Perestroika in Paris, as well as Jane’s writing process, beloved pets, and what... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-23 09:51:41 UTC ]
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On Sunday night, I May Destroy You showrunner Michaela Coel won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. In the context of yet another melanin-deficient awards show that had people tweeting #EmmysSoWhite, it was refreshing (and simultaneously frustrating) that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-20 16:39:44 UTC ]
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The UK's self-employed creative workforce will be "hit hard", according to the Creative Industries Federation, raising concerns the Chancellor's measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak "fall short of guaranteeing these workers’ income". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-18 05:26:17 UTC ]
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Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House is a feat—a memoir and historical narrative created amid governmental bureaucracy and resistance from some of her subjects. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-09-25 16:27:00 UTC ]
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Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House is a feat—a memoir and historical narrative created amid governmental bureaucracy and resistance from some of her subjects. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-09-25 16:27:00 UTC ]
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The Creative Industries Federation is uniting with Creative England to become one organisation, officially launching in spring 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-24 20:42:14 UTC ]
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New Writing North, working with Channel 4, Northumbria University and Lime Pictures, is offering aspiring TV writers from the North of England 12-month placements in either soap or children’s drama production companies. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Earning a living as a writer is as likely as winning the lottery. Instead of writing books and persuading others to buy them, find out what people want to write, then do it for themPhilip Pullman: professional writers set to become ‘an endangered species’ due to low wagesI left school with a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Welcome to NaNoWriMo! MG Leonard (who wrote her first book Beetle Boy in six months, one hour a day) has tips on how to do it. And it starts with writing EVERY SINGLE DAY NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and takes place every November. It’s for anyone thinking about writing a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It’s 2015. My partner and I are in Moab, Utah, for the summer, far from our home of Philadelphia. He is doing research for his dissertation. I am struggling to rewrite a novel that my editor says—and I agree—isn’t working. The desert landscape in southwest Utah is magnificent and to us wholly... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-19 08:53:24 UTC ]
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The following is from Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice by Eddie Ahn. _______________________________________________ Excerpted from Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice, by Eddie Ahn;... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2024-04-17 08:54:48 UTC ]
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