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 ]
Literary agent Clare Alexander is one of three new trustees to join writers’ development agency New Writing North along with education expert Mike Parker and writer Degna Stone. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The former foreign correspondent’s memoirs recall a continent caught between a romantic past and an uncertain future Continue reading at The Economist
[ The Economist | 2019-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writer and Everyday Sexism Project founder Laura Bates talks to Caroline Carpenter about her first YA novel, The Burning. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scoot over “Deadly Class” and “Black Lightning,” and make room in the crowded superhero arena for two new avenging TV series: Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy” and “Doom Patrol” from DC Universe, a fledgling streaming service devoted to the comic book franchise. Both superhero dramas premiere... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Longtime journalist Katie Couric is writing a memoir that will touch on her decades-long career in journalism, the deaths of her husband and sister from cancer and her experiences with sexism in the news industry. Couric's memoir, "Unexpected," is slated for publication by Little, Brown and Co.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson has vowed to review passages in her book Merchants of Truth—published this week in the UK by Bodley Head—following claims of plagiarism. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The North’s biggest children’s creative writing workshop The Big Write is returning in May, Harrogate International Festivals has announced. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Part of the same “Cities in Love” itinerary that previously included stops in Paris, New York and Rio, the wildly uneven anthology “Berlin, I Love You” exhibits telltale signs of jet lag. The format, like the others in the series, groups together intersecting stories directed by international... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In a growing controversy over the Internet Archive's handling of copyrighted material, the Association of American Publishers joins complaints from authors' organizations. The post US Publishers Slam ‘CDL’ as ‘Systematic Infringement’ as UK Authors Write to Foundations appeared first on... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former footballer's wife Lizzie Cundy has filmed a "making of" documentary for her new autobiography, co-written with ex-Bonnier c.e.o Richard Johnson. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Global fast food chain McDonald’s will this year distribute new stories by Cressida Cowell in its Happy Meal packs. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While enjoyable, Kristen Roupenian’s horror stories don’t live up to the hype afforded her New Yorker hitIn publishing, the New Yorker’s Cat Person was rarer than a super blood wolf moon: a mere short story that became an international must-read, was released as a stand-alone paperback (inflated... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alexander McCall Smith reflects on 20 years of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and his latest genre shift, to ‘Scandi blanc’. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fi and Charlotte Duffy-Scott of Glasgow’s Category Is Books recommend eight books by Scottish women and non-binary writers, and Asif Khan, director of the Scottish Poetry Library, has done likewise with women poets. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Five past presidents of the American Booksellers Association met at Winter Institute in Albuquerque, N.M., last week to talk about where the industry is now and where it's headed. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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“My name doesn’t matter,” proclaims the narrator of Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s debut novel, “We Cast a Shadow.” “All you need to know is that I’m a phantom, a figment ….” The first words of Ruffin’s book seem to be a tribute to the opening of Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man,” which begins, “I am in... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A former editor of the New York Times takes an unsparing look at the decline of US journalismThis book about the commercial takeover of the news business is sure to make a lot of powerful people very angry. Jill Abramson takes an unsparing look at US journalism’s moral decline; as former... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Actor Christopher Ecclestone talks about narrating Cold Bath Street by A J Hartley, published by student-run not-for-profit publisher UCLan. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The live theater war that NBC and Fox have been waging since 2013, when Carrie Underwood starred in NBC’s "The Sound of Music," saw its latest salvo Sunday with Fox's "Rent: Live," a sweet and energetic sound-staging of Jonathan Larson's 1996 Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning pop opera. For... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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