Friday Finds for Writers

Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to read over the weekend.

  • Something that still (sometimes) stymies me: the who/whom divide.
  • On the VQR blog: Kathleen Schmidt explains “what to expect when you’re expecting to hire a book publicist.”
  • Jane Roper writes about “the book that didn’t break out, and the disease that did.”
  • Happy Short Story Month! See what Fiction Writers Review has in store.
  • A dispatch from the classroom: Natalie Wexler on why many students in the D.C. public schools can’t write.
  • I’m Boston-bound today for Grub Street’s The Muse & the Marketplace. And one of my conference co-panelists, Douglas Trevor, is featured this week over on the always-excellent Books, Personally blog. Read the Q&A.
  • Finally: some cautionary words about Bancroft Press, a publisher included in the current Practicing Writer. Check writer Betsy Robinson’s comment at the end of the Publishers Weekly article also mentioned in the newsletter.
  • Happy weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.

    Wednesday’s Work-in-Progress: How Harvard Failures Made Me Thick-Skinned, Super-Stubborn, and Ready for a Writing Life

    (As I explained at the beginning of the May issue of The Practicing Writer, where a version of this essay also appears, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my years in the Boston area. The Massachusetts phase of my life began when I arrived in Cambridge as a Harvard freshman more than 25 years ago. Little did I realize then how much – and how unexpectedly – Harvard would help me become a practicing writer. This essay describes some of those hard-won understandings. Thanks for reading.)
    Baccalaureate Service 2010
    My undergraduate college – Harvard – was a perfect place to prepare for a writing life. But not for the reasons you think.

    Not for the dizzying array of creative-writing classes (the college offered few; you had to submit a polished writing sample to compete for a spot in even introductory workshops). Not for benefits conferred by an on-campus MFA program (there wasn’t one). Not even for the vaunted connections (I was a first-generation Ivy Leaguer and only minimally “cooler” at Harvard than I’d been in high school). But even before I started seeing my classmates’ names (and seemingly just as quickly, those of younger alums) on book covers and within the pages of THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, I endured numerous experiences that could have encouraged me to give up. (more…)

    Friday Finds for Writers

    Treasure ChestWriting-related resources, news, and reflections to read over the weekend.

  • Sometimes, the truth hurts. And there’s pain in this Grub Daily post, “If You Write What You Love, Will the Money Follow?”.
  • On Lisa Romeo’s blog: a guest post with tips on giving good readings.
  • Litro magazine has launched a new flash-fiction column featuring the expertise of Tania Hershman.
  • Short Story Month is nearly upon us. Do you have plans to celebrate? I’ve been remiss: I’d hoped to organize a virtual “panel” on Goodreads featuring some short-story authors of my acquaintance, but I’ve fallen woefully behind. I think that I’ll at least be able to manage a giveaway. Stay tuned! (And let me know what you may be planning.)
  • Lovely (and inspiring) dispatch from a “Poetry Utopia at the Barred Owl Retreat,” courtesy of Diane Lockward.
  • Have a great weekend, everyone. See you back here on Monday.