Friday Finds for Writers

Treasure Chest
Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • How many are the articles that instruct us on the art of the opening sentence. How few are those that focus on the lines that close a novel. How grateful I am for Jonathan Russell Clark’s piece on the latter, for The Millions.
  • “The U.S. Postal Service will honor Maya Angelou — the beloved author, poet, actress and champion of equality — with a Forever Stamp.”
  • “If you don’t want to do marketing, be a ghostwriter.” This and other tidbits in Jane Friedman’s Q&A with Scott Berkun in a post titled “Book Marketing Must Center (Mainly) on the Author.”
  • On the Brevity blog: a guest post by Jennifer McGuiggan titled “Writing Workshop Is Not Group Therapy.” Amen.
  • This week I read Julie Schumacher’s terrific novel Dear Committee Members–I read it in a single sitting, laughing (nearly) all the time. If you’re inclined to read academic novels that are also novels that portray creative writers (albeit not always in the most flattering light!), you may want to take a glance at these excerpts.
  • Have a great weekend, everyone.

    6 thoughts on “Friday Finds for Writers

    1. “Writing Workshop is Not Group Therapy” – Perfect title. If you want hugs then let your mom read your manuscript. (Even then, it might be a tough sell. 🙂 ) Workshop should be a home for honesty. Thanks for sharing this.

      1. Erika Dreifus says:

        Yes, the title definitely drew me in!

    2. I read “Writing Workshop is Not Group Therapy” earlier this week and it was wonderful, not just as a set of guidelines for writing workshops, but also as good guidelines for anyone working with writers on revision. And my husband chuckled all the way through the Schumacher book when he read it. She’s on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, my alma mater, and my husband’s employer.

      1. Erika Dreifus says:

        Great point about the applicability of the “Not Group Therapy” post, Kathleen. And I’m glad to hear that Schumacher’s book is getting attention. I’m not surprised that your husband found it so amusing AT ALL!

    3. Thanks for including my guest post on Brevity’s blog. I’m glad you like it. I always enjoy your round-up posts, and I’m glad to be part of one!

      1. Erika Dreifus says:

        Oh, thanks for stopping by, Jenna!

    Comments are closed.