Karen Stevens's collection of essays offers practical advice and inspiration for those embarking on the long, lonely journey of writing a novelAccording to Karen Stevens, "writing a novel is the longest and loneliest journey a writer can embark upon". Her collection of essays by established and new writers splits that journey into four stages: inspiration, research, voice and form. There is also practical advice from a literary agent and an editor who notes honestly that "chance does play a part" in getting published. Lionel Shriver is equally frank about what comes after the acceptance of your first novel: "struggle and disappointment". Although Hanif Kureishi candidly admits, in an excellent piece from 2002, that "most writers do not entirely understand what they are doing", these essays are both perceptive and inspiring. Alison MacLeod writes beautifully on the voice of a novel: "It is the unknown quantity every novel needs." Kishwar Desai admits to being driven by "the demons of insecurity" to over-research, and Jane Feaver, writing about form, advises authors to develop "an alertness to the collective materiality of words". But all agree with Wena Poon: the process of writing a novel is a "strange and wondrous journey".PublishingPaperbacksEssaysPD Smiththeguardian.com © 2014 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
In “War: How Conflict Shaped Us,” Margaret MacMillan examines the impact of war, both bad and good. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-06 09:00:08 UTC ]
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When I made the extremely practical decision to abandon my career in publishing to become a writer, I didn’t know I wanted to write children’s books. I thought I wanted to write for adults. Accordingly, my first published work was an illustrated book about fortune-telling; my second was about... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-06 08:49:59 UTC ]
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When Sonja Livingston began to write about her life with an itinerant mother and six siblings in the raw corners of western New York, she wrote, she says, in snatches. “I wrote of living in apartments and tents and motel rooms. Of places where corn and cabbage grew in great swaths. Of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-02 08:48:29 UTC ]
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Headline Review will publish Freya Berry's debut novel, The Dictator’s Wife, as a lead hardback launch in 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-01 22:16:14 UTC ]
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Wesley Barnes sued by resort owner after posting negative comments on TripadvisorAn American man is facing two years in prison in Thailand after posting negative online reviews of a hotel resort.The Sea View Resort in Koh Chang accused Wesley Barnes of “a slanderous campaign” over the reviews,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-09-29 12:25:01 UTC ]
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Children’s publishers grew readerships during lockdown across subject areas, extending to renewed interest in their backlists as well as in their online educational resources, delegates heard at The Bookseller’s Children’s Conference this week. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-29 06:08:42 UTC ]
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The University of East Anglia has appointed Booker-shortlisted Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga as its new international chair of creative writing. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-28 17:24:43 UTC ]
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From indie to mainstream, Caribbean authors are finding readers—and landing publishing deals—in the U.S. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In a recent issue dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, The Book Review resurfaced its 1943 critique of Hitler’s political manifesto. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-09-24 20:17:48 UTC ]
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When John Bolton was preparing to publish The Room Where It Happened, his memoir of serving in the Trump White House, he and his legal team took the routine step of submitting it for review at the National Security Council. It was Ellen Knight’s job to oversee that process, as she had done... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-23 20:07:06 UTC ]
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'The Meaning of Mariah Carey,' the pop star's tell-some memoir, sparkles and entertains and explains its subject, despite a few too many I-don't-know-hers. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-09-23 15:38:47 UTC ]
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In a bombshell letter filed with the court this week, attorneys for the National Security Council official who led the prepublication review of John Bolton’s bestselling memoir 'The Room Where It Happened' confirmed the official's position that the book was cleared of classified information... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-23 04:00:00 UTC ]
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There are very few celebrities whose meals interest me. (Yes, I do hate Instagram, thank you.) But here’s one: Stanley Tucci, who announced today that he’s working on a memoir called Taste: My Life Through Food. Publisher Gallery Books described it as “intimate and charming reflection of Tucci’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-17 18:45:33 UTC ]
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YouTube star Daniel Howell is releasing a guide to mental health, You Will Get Through This Night, with HarperCollins imprint HQ. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-13 20:48:44 UTC ]
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Jacob P Avila has won this year's Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Manuscript, for his contemporary thriller Cave Diver. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-09 12:39:04 UTC ]
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Richard Osman, whose first novel The Thursday Murder Club this week becomes the fastest selling adult crime debut since records began, has signed a deal with Viking for two more books in the series. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-07 19:31:57 UTC ]
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A quarter of a century after the Women’s Prize for Fiction launched, co-founder Kate Mosse looks at how it has helped to change the publishing landscape and looks ahead to its virtual ceremony. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-04 15:39:23 UTC ]
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Harmony Difo joins 'Publishers Weekly' as nonfiction reviews editor, replacing Mark Rotella, who left the magazine earlier this summer. Zoe Christen Jones has been hired in a newly created writer-at-large position, which includes a new magazine column on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster will publish the pontiff's vision of a better future post-pandemic December 1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Irenosen Okojie is to open Comma Press' National Creative Writing Industry Day, which will be held as a week-long online conference this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-02 04:57:04 UTC ]
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