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 ]
How fiction and nonfiction writers have been affected by political turmoil in the U.S. and abroad. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In King’s fifth novel, a young woman determined to have it all faces the challenges of living a creative life. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In this conversation with a featured speaker, PW checks in with Jennifer Finney Boylan, who will discuss gender and resistance with Parul Sehgal, 'New York Times' book critic, on Thursday, January 23. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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In this conversation with a featured speaker, PW checks in with W. Paul Coates, who will participate in a keynote panel entitled “Bookselling and Liberation: Black Bookstores in America, from the ’60s to the Present” on Friday, January 24. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Ocean Vuong, bestselling author of "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," joins the L.A. Times Book Club on Jan. 27. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-09 00:57:08 UTC ]
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Candice Carty-Williams has joined the Guardian as a columnist, writing a weekly piece for the paper’s Review supplement about "literature in its many forms" Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 19:55:03 UTC ]
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With print books selling 191.6 million units for £1.66bn, 2019 became the print market’s fifth consecutive year of growth and its best since 2010 in value terms, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 20:35:48 UTC ]
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Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan star in an adaptation of a memoir by the civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-12-24 19:45:28 UTC ]
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Of the thousands of book reviews we published this year, these are the 10 most-read reviews of books that published in 2019. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-23 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The London Review of Books has launched a new website, rounding off its 40th anniversary celebrations with a comprehensive overhaul of the paper’s online presence, with its archive freely accessible for a month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-16 18:58:24 UTC ]
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One article shifted the culture. Ronald K.L. Collins wonders whether it could happen today. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-12-13 07:10:24 UTC ]
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A deliciously original study of the cheap editions of Pride and Prejudice and other novels – ignored by literary scholars – casts new light on her readershipJane Austen aficionados think that they know the story of their favourite author’s posthumous dis-appearance and then re-emergence. For... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-12-11 07:30:31 UTC ]
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Fifty-seven books in 10 awards categories have been shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards (full listings below), with Vivien Godfrey, chairman and chief executive of Stanfords, calling it “a sensational line up of immensely talented writers across the full spectrum of the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-09 14:56:23 UTC ]
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Writer and actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge has revealed her writing tips and the “joy” of adapting another’s work in a rare public appearance on Sunday (8th December) at the Southbank Centre, marking the publication of Fleabag: The Scriptures (Sceptre). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-09 05:43:34 UTC ]
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Barnes & Noble Education's board has approved the hiring of a financial advisor to help the company review its strategic options as it continues look for ways to keep pace with a rapidly changing market for college materials. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-05 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Curtis Brown Creative writing school is launching a new course in writing an original TV drama serial. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-04 05:09:41 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel is appearing at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on 6th March to promote her third novel in the Thomas Cromwell trilogy, The Mirror & the Light (4th Estate). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-26 03:34:10 UTC ]
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The National Centre for Writing in Norwich is relaunching its Escalator Talent Development Scheme, with a special focus this year on writers from working class backgrounds. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-15 00:58:56 UTC ]
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Paul Theroux encounters poverty and violence, kindness and hospitality, pride and melancholy. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-11-14 20:40:57 UTC ]
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