Finds for Writers
Most Fridays the Practicing Writing blog shares writing and publishing resources, news, and reflections to peruse over the weekend. But it’s been an excruciating week for so many of us. And frankly, I’ve paid next-to-no attention to garden-variety news from the writing and publishing spheres.
On Wednesday, however, I received an email from Facing History and Ourselves, a Boston-based global nonprofit organization that I’ve admired for many years. The email introduced a “mini-lesson” titled “Processing Attacks in Israel and the Outbreak of War in the Region.”
The resource isn’t perfect. (What resource is?) But one of its segments impressed me as something that, though intended for educators and students, could be clarifying for writers as well, in our work and in the rest of our lives. It’s a section titled “Avoiding Antisemitic and Islamophobic Tropes in Discussing Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”
- “Ever wonder what it’s like to work in book publishing? Or what a literary agency even is? The J&NA [Janklow & Nesbit Associates] assistant crew is here to answer all your questions and more in our inaugural JNA Presents…Literary Agency Virtual Open House!” Free. (Thanks to @MinoritiesInPub for the tip about this one.)
- From Writer Beware: another scam alert.
- Terrific essay by fiction writer R.L. Maizes (now the author of both a novel and a short-story collection) on working with developmental editors.
- Guidance from Curtis Sittenfeld on completing a short story.
- And speaking of short stories—be sure to check out the latest Jewish-lit links over on the My Machberet blog. Included there, icymi earlier this week, you’ll find some reflections of my own on short stories (and a number of reading recommendations).
Have a great weekend, all.
