Reading About writing
Below you will find some links about writing & writers that I think may interest you (and definitely interest me).
These may be good examples of articles you could use for your ISU.
If you come across a link you think the class should read send me an email. There may be a bonus mark in it for you.
These may be good examples of articles you could use for your ISU.
If you come across a link you think the class should read send me an email. There may be a bonus mark in it for you.
The Adverb Is Not Your Friend: Steven King on Simplicity of Style - Brainpickings
“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.”
“Employ a simple and straightforward style,” Mark Twain instructed in the 18th of his 18 famous literary admonitions. And what greater enemy of simplicity and straightforwardness than the adverb? Or so argues Stephen King in On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft (public library), one of 9 essential books to help you write better.
Though he may have used a handful of well-placed adverbs in his recent eloquent case for gun control, King embarks upon a forceful crusade against this malignant part of speech:
Read on.....
“Employ a simple and straightforward style,” Mark Twain instructed in the 18th of his 18 famous literary admonitions. And what greater enemy of simplicity and straightforwardness than the adverb? Or so argues Stephen King in On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft (public library), one of 9 essential books to help you write better.
Though he may have used a handful of well-placed adverbs in his recent eloquent case for gun control, King embarks upon a forceful crusade against this malignant part of speech:
Read on.....
RIP Roger Ebert: The Beloved Movie Critic - Brainpickings
“Most people choose to write a blog. I needed to.”
How devastating to learn that beloved critic Roger Ebert has died at the age of 70, after a long battle with the cancer that first claimed his jaw and, now, his life. Though I’d followed Ebert’s writing for some time, with the sort of detached appreciation one directs at cultural commentators, it wasn’t until I encountered him in the flesh at TED 2011, where he delivered his brave and stirring talk about learning to speak again, that I found myself in sheer awe of his spirit. A few months later, his memoir, Life Itself (public library), was released and I absorbed it voraciously. Today, some of its most resonant parts come back to mind, a bittersweet reminder of the incredible mind we’ve lost.
Read on...
How devastating to learn that beloved critic Roger Ebert has died at the age of 70, after a long battle with the cancer that first claimed his jaw and, now, his life. Though I’d followed Ebert’s writing for some time, with the sort of detached appreciation one directs at cultural commentators, it wasn’t until I encountered him in the flesh at TED 2011, where he delivered his brave and stirring talk about learning to speak again, that I found myself in sheer awe of his spirit. A few months later, his memoir, Life Itself (public library), was released and I absorbed it voraciously. Today, some of its most resonant parts come back to mind, a bittersweet reminder of the incredible mind we’ve lost.
Read on...
How to Take Your Short STory to the Next Level - Writersdigest
Are you writing a short story? The first short story I ever wrote was in the 6th grade. It was about a fictitious solar system of salad toppings. No joke. I remember pacing around the house, dictating ideas, plot and dialogue into my mom’s hand-held tape recorder and, eventually, piecing it all together into a short story that earned me an A. Looking back, it was one of my proudest moments as a young student—and as a young writer.
With that memory poking at my brain today, I decided to round up several excellent articles on writing short stories. From an interview with one of the top short story writers of today to plot advice to how to sell short fiction, these articles will help you take your stories to the next level:
read on...
With that memory poking at my brain today, I decided to round up several excellent articles on writing short stories. From an interview with one of the top short story writers of today to plot advice to how to sell short fiction, these articles will help you take your stories to the next level:
read on...
Spoken Word Poetry
A collection of links to spoken work poetry that we have viewed or others that you may like:
Sarah Kay - If I Should Have a Daughter...at TED
Taylor Mali - What teachers make
George Watsky - So Many Levels Redux
Scott Woods - Whuppins
Rafael Casal - Barbie & Ken 101
Shanelle Gabriel - Why I love You
Eric Darby - Scratch & Dent Dreams
Ke'ala Morrell - Monday
Sarah Kay - A Love Letter
Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye - Origin Story
Sarah Kay - If I Should Have a Daughter...at TED
Taylor Mali - What teachers make
George Watsky - So Many Levels Redux
Scott Woods - Whuppins
Rafael Casal - Barbie & Ken 101
Shanelle Gabriel - Why I love You
Eric Darby - Scratch & Dent Dreams
Ke'ala Morrell - Monday
Sarah Kay - A Love Letter
Sarah Kay & Phil Kaye - Origin Story
12 Ways to Write a Poem - Oprah
Having trouble thinking about topics to write about. Here are 12 suggestions to get you started. Read on...
5 Ways to Revise a Poem - Writersdigest
A 5 step suggestion for how to revise your poem. Read on....
Steven King's 20 Tips
A suggestion from Jesse:
Have you ever wished you could peer inside the mind of one of the greatest writers in the world and find out exactly what makes them tick?
Well… here’s your chance.
Stephen King has published 49 novels, all of them bestsellers. He has sold more than 350 million copies of his works. According to Forbes, he earns approximately $40 million per year, making him one of the richest writers in the world.
And now he’s going to tell you exactly how to become a frighteningly good writer.
Read on....
Have you ever wished you could peer inside the mind of one of the greatest writers in the world and find out exactly what makes them tick?
Well… here’s your chance.
Stephen King has published 49 novels, all of them bestsellers. He has sold more than 350 million copies of his works. According to Forbes, he earns approximately $40 million per year, making him one of the richest writers in the world.
And now he’s going to tell you exactly how to become a frighteningly good writer.
Read on....
Story of a Writer - Ray Bradbury on Storytelling
“Man has always been half-monster, half-dreamer.”
Beloved science fiction author Ray Bradbury, whom we lost earlier this year, would’ve been 92 today. A passionate advocate of doing what you love andwriting with joy, Bradbury was the subject David L. Wolper’s 1963 documentaryRay Bradbury: Story of a Writer, in which he shares a wealth of insight on writing, some advice on perseverance, and his singular lens on the storyteller’s task. Enjoy.
Read more...
Beloved science fiction author Ray Bradbury, whom we lost earlier this year, would’ve been 92 today. A passionate advocate of doing what you love andwriting with joy, Bradbury was the subject David L. Wolper’s 1963 documentaryRay Bradbury: Story of a Writer, in which he shares a wealth of insight on writing, some advice on perseverance, and his singular lens on the storyteller’s task. Enjoy.
Read more...
Writers on Writing - jamaica Kincaid - Those Words that Echo - The new York Times
How do I write? Why do I write? What do I write? This is what I am writing: I am writing "Mr. Potter." It begins in this way; this is its first sentence: "Mr. Potter was my father, my father's name was Mr. Potter." So much went into that one sentence; much happened before I settled on those 11 words.
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Salon's Guide to Writing a Memoir - Salon
It’s a genre that critics love to bag on, and readers love to devour. But we like to think that it’s not bad to write a memoir, it’s just very hard to write a good one. So we asked 10 of our favorite first-person authors for their best advice on the form. Get ready to take notes, gaze at your navel — and learn from the masters.
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Memoir Spotlight - Jeannette Walls - Writers Digest
Jeannette Walls is the author of The Glass Castle, a memoir with more than 3 million copies in print, and Half Broke Horses, a bestselling true-life novel based on her grandmother. She lives in the Virginia piedmont with her husband, John Taylor.
Does the type of writing you’re doing (nonfiction, memoir, fiction) alter your process at all?
I’m a fairly fast, but sloppy writer, so I’m a big fan of re-writing, and re-writing again
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Does the type of writing you’re doing (nonfiction, memoir, fiction) alter your process at all?
I’m a fairly fast, but sloppy writer, so I’m a big fan of re-writing, and re-writing again
Read more...
Zadie Smith's 10 Rules of Writing - Brainpickings
“Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.”
In the winter of 2010, inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writingpublished in The New York Times nearly a decade earlier, The Guardian reached out to some of today’s most celebrated authors and asked them to each offer his or her rules. My favorite is Zadie Smith’s list — an exquisite balance of the practical, the philosophical, and the poetic:
Read more....
In the winter of 2010, inspired by Elmore Leonard’s 10 rules of writingpublished in The New York Times nearly a decade earlier, The Guardian reached out to some of today’s most celebrated authors and asked them to each offer his or her rules. My favorite is Zadie Smith’s list — an exquisite balance of the practical, the philosophical, and the poetic:
Read more....
Jules Verne - Prophet of Science Fiction - Brainpickings
How the father of science fiction presaged airplanes, submersible warfare, space travel, and fuel cells.
“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real,” Jules Verne, born on this day in 1828 and often regarded as the father of science fiction, wrote in his masterpiece Around the World in Eighty Days. And, indeed, many of the seemingly fanciful concepts Verne imagined were made real in the decades that followed. He conceived of an underwater vehicle “all powered by electricity!” at a time when only prototypes of submarines existed and electricity was known but not of wide use; he presaged the use of such a high-powered submersible in warfare and scientific research; with the help of an illustrator-friend, he envisioned a propeller-driven aircraft when hot-air balloons were the height of aviation; he depicted weightlessness when zero gravity was still a scientific guess and put humans on the moon a century before mankind’s giant step. But far more than a gifted fiction writer, Verne was also an amateur astronomer and amateur scientist. Obsessive research and fact-checking were core to his writing, and his immense curiosity about science and technology frequently drove him to seek out famous scientists and inventors passing through town.
Read more...
“Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real,” Jules Verne, born on this day in 1828 and often regarded as the father of science fiction, wrote in his masterpiece Around the World in Eighty Days. And, indeed, many of the seemingly fanciful concepts Verne imagined were made real in the decades that followed. He conceived of an underwater vehicle “all powered by electricity!” at a time when only prototypes of submarines existed and electricity was known but not of wide use; he presaged the use of such a high-powered submersible in warfare and scientific research; with the help of an illustrator-friend, he envisioned a propeller-driven aircraft when hot-air balloons were the height of aviation; he depicted weightlessness when zero gravity was still a scientific guess and put humans on the moon a century before mankind’s giant step. But far more than a gifted fiction writer, Verne was also an amateur astronomer and amateur scientist. Obsessive research and fact-checking were core to his writing, and his immense curiosity about science and technology frequently drove him to seek out famous scientists and inventors passing through town.
Read more...
Why I Write - George Orwell - Brainpickings
“All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery.”
Literary legend Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, would have been 109 today. Though he remains best remembered for authoring the cult-classics Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, he was also a formidable, masterful essayist. Among his finest short-form feats is the 1946 essay Why I Write (public library) — a fine addition to other timeless insights on writing, including Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 rules for a great story, David Ogilvy’s 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller’s 11 commandments, Jack Kerouac’s 30 beliefs and techniques, John Steinbeck’s 6 pointers, and various invaluable insight from other great writers.
Read more...
Literary legend Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, would have been 109 today. Though he remains best remembered for authoring the cult-classics Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, he was also a formidable, masterful essayist. Among his finest short-form feats is the 1946 essay Why I Write (public library) — a fine addition to other timeless insights on writing, including Kurt Vonnegut’s 8 rules for a great story, David Ogilvy’s 10 no-bullshit tips, Henry Miller’s 11 commandments, Jack Kerouac’s 30 beliefs and techniques, John Steinbeck’s 6 pointers, and various invaluable insight from other great writers.
Read more...
Order to the CHaos of Life - Isabel Allende on Writing - Brainpickings
“Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.”
Literary history is ripe with eloquent attempts to answer the ever-elusive question of why writers write. For George Orwell, it resulted from four universal motives. Joan Didion saw it as precious access to her own mind. ForDavid Foster Wallace, it was about fun. Joy Williams found in it a gateway from the darkness to the light. For Charles Bukowski, it sprang from the soul like a rocket. In Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do (public library), which also gave us Mary Karr’s poignant answer, celebrated Chilean American authorIsabel Allende offers one of the most poetic yet practical responses to the grand question.
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Literary history is ripe with eloquent attempts to answer the ever-elusive question of why writers write. For George Orwell, it resulted from four universal motives. Joan Didion saw it as precious access to her own mind. ForDavid Foster Wallace, it was about fun. Joy Williams found in it a gateway from the darkness to the light. For Charles Bukowski, it sprang from the soul like a rocket. In Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do (public library), which also gave us Mary Karr’s poignant answer, celebrated Chilean American authorIsabel Allende offers one of the most poetic yet practical responses to the grand question.
Read more...
For Valentine's Day - Poets on their favourite Love Poem - The Atlantic
Here's help for anyone scrambling to find that perfect last-minute Valentine's note to scribble inside their beau's pink card. I've asked a few great poets to talk about their favorite love poem or the line of poetry they find most romantic; their responses are below. Some of the selected verses may not, on their faces, be Hallmark-ready, but each one speaks to the power of love in its own way.
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illustrated video of interview with maurice sendak, author of "where the wild things are" - brainpickings
“Live your life, live your life, live your life.”
Beloved children’s book illustrator Maurice Sendak — though he insisted he didn’t draw specifically for children — was among the most heartbreaking losses of 2012. His September 2011 NPR Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross is one of the most soul-stirring conversations you’ll ever hear on the airwaves. Indeed, after the inimitable Christoph Niemann first tuned in, he was so moved he decided to illustrate the last five minutes of the interview. The result will stop your breath:
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Beloved children’s book illustrator Maurice Sendak — though he insisted he didn’t draw specifically for children — was among the most heartbreaking losses of 2012. His September 2011 NPR Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross is one of the most soul-stirring conversations you’ll ever hear on the airwaves. Indeed, after the inimitable Christoph Niemann first tuned in, he was so moved he decided to illustrate the last five minutes of the interview. The result will stop your breath:
See more...
6-word memoirs from grade school to grads - brainpickings
“The constraint fuels rather than limits our creativity.”
In 2006, Larry Smith presented a challenge to his community at SMITH Magazine: How would you tell your life’s story if you could only use six words? The question, inspired by the legend that Hemingway was once challenged to write an entire novel in just six words, spurred a flurry of responses — funny, heartbreaking, moving, somewhere between PostSecret and Félix Fénéon’s three-word reports. The small experiment soon became a global phenomenon, producing a series of books and inspiring millions of people to contemplate the deepest complexities of existence through the simplicity of short-form minimalism. The latest addition to the series, Things Don’t Have To Be Complicated: Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World, comes from TEDBooks and collects dozens of visual six-word autobiographies from students between the ages of 8 and 35.
See more...
In 2006, Larry Smith presented a challenge to his community at SMITH Magazine: How would you tell your life’s story if you could only use six words? The question, inspired by the legend that Hemingway was once challenged to write an entire novel in just six words, spurred a flurry of responses — funny, heartbreaking, moving, somewhere between PostSecret and Félix Fénéon’s three-word reports. The small experiment soon became a global phenomenon, producing a series of books and inspiring millions of people to contemplate the deepest complexities of existence through the simplicity of short-form minimalism. The latest addition to the series, Things Don’t Have To Be Complicated: Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World, comes from TEDBooks and collects dozens of visual six-word autobiographies from students between the ages of 8 and 35.
See more...
How to write with style from kurt vonnegut - brainprickings
“The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not.”
Kurt Vonnegut has given us some of the most timeless advice on the art and craft of writing — from his 8 rules for a great story to his insights on the shapes of stories to his formidable daily routine. But hardly anything examines the subject with a more potent blend of practical advice and heart than Vonnegut’s 1985 essay“How to Write with Style,” published in the wonderful anthology How to Use the Power of the Printed Word (UK; public library).
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Kurt Vonnegut has given us some of the most timeless advice on the art and craft of writing — from his 8 rules for a great story to his insights on the shapes of stories to his formidable daily routine. But hardly anything examines the subject with a more potent blend of practical advice and heart than Vonnegut’s 1985 essay“How to Write with Style,” published in the wonderful anthology How to Use the Power of the Printed Word (UK; public library).
Read more...
5 1/2 commencement speeches worth watching - brainpickings
The great and terrible truth of clichés, why success is a dangerous bedfellow, and how disappointment paves the way for originality.
It’s that time of year again, the time when cultural icons and luminaries of various stripes flock to podiums around the world to impart their wisdom on a fresh crop of graduating seniors hungry to take on the world. After last year’s omnibus of timeless commencement addresses by J. K. Rowling (“Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something on which to pride yourself. But poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.”),Steve Jobs (“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”), Robert Krulwich (“You will build a body of work, but you will also build a body of affection, with the people you’ve helped who’ve helped you back. This is the era of Friends in Low Places.”), Meryl Streep (“This is your time, and it feels normal to you. But, really, there is no ‘normal.’ There’s only change, and resistance to it, and then more change.”), and Jeff Bezos (“Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice.”), here are five-ish more packets of timeless wisdom.
Across them runs a common thread of what seems to be as much a critical message, the message, for the young as it is an essential lifelong reminder for all: No social convention of success should lure you away from or could be a substitute for finding your purpose and doing what you love.
Read more...
It’s that time of year again, the time when cultural icons and luminaries of various stripes flock to podiums around the world to impart their wisdom on a fresh crop of graduating seniors hungry to take on the world. After last year’s omnibus of timeless commencement addresses by J. K. Rowling (“Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something on which to pride yourself. But poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.”),Steve Jobs (“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”), Robert Krulwich (“You will build a body of work, but you will also build a body of affection, with the people you’ve helped who’ve helped you back. This is the era of Friends in Low Places.”), Meryl Streep (“This is your time, and it feels normal to you. But, really, there is no ‘normal.’ There’s only change, and resistance to it, and then more change.”), and Jeff Bezos (“Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice.”), here are five-ish more packets of timeless wisdom.
Across them runs a common thread of what seems to be as much a critical message, the message, for the young as it is an essential lifelong reminder for all: No social convention of success should lure you away from or could be a substitute for finding your purpose and doing what you love.
Read more...
9 books on reading & writing - brainpickings
Dancing with the absurdity of life, or what symbolism has to do with the osmosis of trash and treasure.
As far as New Year’s resolutions go, hardly anything does one’s mental, spiritual, and creative health more good than resolving to read more and write better. Today’s reading list addresses these parallel aspirations. And since the number of books written about reading and writing likely far exceeds the reading capacity of a single human lifetime, this omnibus couldn’t be — shouldn’t be — an exhaustive list. It is, instead, a collection of timeless texts bound to radically improve your relationship with the written word, from whichever side of the equation you approach it.
Read more...
As far as New Year’s resolutions go, hardly anything does one’s mental, spiritual, and creative health more good than resolving to read more and write better. Today’s reading list addresses these parallel aspirations. And since the number of books written about reading and writing likely far exceeds the reading capacity of a single human lifetime, this omnibus couldn’t be — shouldn’t be — an exhaustive list. It is, instead, a collection of timeless texts bound to radically improve your relationship with the written word, from whichever side of the equation you approach it.
Read more...
The daily routines of famous writers - brainpickings
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.”
Kurt Vonnegut’s recently published daily routine made we wonder how other beloved writers organized their days. So I pored through various old diaries and interviews — many from the fantastic Paris Review archives — and culled a handful of writing routines from some of my favorite authors. Enjoy.
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Kurt Vonnegut’s recently published daily routine made we wonder how other beloved writers organized their days. So I pored through various old diaries and interviews — many from the fantastic Paris Review archives — and culled a handful of writing routines from some of my favorite authors. Enjoy.
Read more...
brainpicking's best books of 2012
10 tips on writing from david ogilvy - brainpickings
“Never write more than two pages on any subject.”
How is your new year’s resolution to read more and write better holding up? After tracing the fascinating story of the most influential writing style guide of all time and absorbing advice on writing from some of modern history’s most legendary writers, here comes some priceless and pricelessly uncompromising wisdom from a very different kind of cultural legend: iconic businessman and original “Mad Man” David Ogilvy. On September 7th, 1982, Ogilvy sent the following internal memo to all agency employees, titled “How to Write”:
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How is your new year’s resolution to read more and write better holding up? After tracing the fascinating story of the most influential writing style guide of all time and absorbing advice on writing from some of modern history’s most legendary writers, here comes some priceless and pricelessly uncompromising wisdom from a very different kind of cultural legend: iconic businessman and original “Mad Man” David Ogilvy. On September 7th, 1982, Ogilvy sent the following internal memo to all agency employees, titled “How to Write”:
Read more...
virginia woolf on the creative benefits of keeping a diary - brainpickings
“The habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments.”
Literary icon Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882, was not only a masterful letter-writer and little-known children’s book author, but also a dedicated diarist on par with Susan Sontag andAnaïs Nin. A fairly late journaling bloomer, she began writing in 1915, at the age of 33, and continued until her last entry in 1941, four days before her death, leaving behind 26 volumes written in her own hand. More than a mere tool of self-exploration, however, Woolf approached the diary as a kind of R&D lab for her craft. As her husband observes in the introduction to her collected journals, A Writer’s Diary (UK; public library), Woolf’s journaling was “a method of practicing or trying out the art of writing.”
Keep reading...
Literary icon Virginia Woolf, born on this day in 1882, was not only a masterful letter-writer and little-known children’s book author, but also a dedicated diarist on par with Susan Sontag andAnaïs Nin. A fairly late journaling bloomer, she began writing in 1915, at the age of 33, and continued until her last entry in 1941, four days before her death, leaving behind 26 volumes written in her own hand. More than a mere tool of self-exploration, however, Woolf approached the diary as a kind of R&D lab for her craft. As her husband observes in the introduction to her collected journals, A Writer’s Diary (UK; public library), Woolf’s journaling was “a method of practicing or trying out the art of writing.”
Keep reading...