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Friday Find: Vintage Essay on “Writing What You Know”

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

I never knew John Gardner, yet I’m certain he would have hated the story I submitted to my first fiction workshop. In The Art of Fiction, Gardner denounced the tendency to transcribe personal memory onto the page; he understood it was precisely that practice that many people, especially beginning writers, equated with the famous dictum to “write what you know.” I had fallen into that trap myself. That first workshop submission proved it. I had not yet read Gardner. I did not appreciate that “Nothing can be more limiting to the imagination, nothing is quicker to turn on the psyche’s censoring devices and distortion systems, than trying to write truthfully and interestingly about own’s own home town, one’s Episcopalian mother, one’s crippled younger sister.”

So I wrote about my own home town.

So begins “Pushing the Limits of ‘Writing What You Know,'” an essay that I wrote many years ago.  Published originally in The Willamette Writer, it’s now available on ErikaDreifus.com, and I invite you to read the rest online.

Enjoy the weekend, and see you back here on Monday!

 

Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
1
  • “Ploughshares is looking for critical essays about great, underappreciated writers. We are hoping for a piece of writing that takes stock of an accomplished body of work and brings a neglected author back into the spotlight….If there is an occasion for the writing – such as a recent biography, a re-issue of old work, or a new book – so much the better. The writer can be living or dead, going back as far as the late 19th century, and from anywhere in the world (it would help, though, if there are good English translations available). The important thing is to give readers a sense of this writer’s special contribution, the arc of his or her career, and biographical details when they seem relevant.” Pays: “Payment will be at our standard rate for published work: $25/page, minimum $50, maximum $250.” NB: Query through the submission manager–no fee to use the manager for these queries.
  • From Robert Lee Brewer, in the latest WritersMarket.com newsletter: “I’m currently accepting pitches for articles in the 2013 editions of Writer’s Market and Poet’s Market. Please send them to me via e-mail at robert(dot)brewer(at)fwmedia(dot)com (and not by any other e-mail or communication channel). If you’re pitching for Writer’s Market, please use the subject line: Pitch for 2013 Writer’s Market. If you’re pitching for Poet’s Market, please use the subject line: Pitch for 2013 Poet’s Market. For Writer’s Market, I’m mainly looking for business- and submission-related pieces. If you’re in doubt about your topic, go ahead and pitch. The worst that will happen is that I’ll pick a more relevant pitch. For Poet’s Market, I’ll accept pitches for articles that cover craft and business topics. I’m also interested in anything that helps poets get their work out to a larger readership.” Pays: Not indicated, but I’m going out on a limb on this one in good faith that the writers will be compensated.
  • Submissions are now open for the next PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. This prize “honors the best published works of fiction by American citizens in a calendar year.” Winning author receives $15,000 and four finalists win $5,000 each. All are honored at a ceremony. No entry fee. Deadline: October 31, 2011.
  • Salamander, a literary journal based at Suffolk University (Boston), is hiring a Managing Editor.
  • Hampshire College [Mass.], an independent, innovative liberal arts college and a member of the Five College Consortium, is accepting applications for an Assistant Professor of Fiction Writing. Experience teaching literary fiction workshops at the college level, a terminal degree (MFA or PhD), and record of publication are essential.
  • Two academic jobs at the University of East Anglia (U.K.): Senior Lectureship in Creative Writing (appears to require a fiction focus) and Lectureship in Literature and Translation.
  • Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School seeks a Copywriter/Editor, Swarthmore College (Penn.) is looking for a Director of Publications/Editor, The Swarthmore College Bulletin, and Merrimack College (Mass.) has posted an advertisement for a Writer.

    • Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: One Writer’s Summer To-Do List, Three Weeks In

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Today marks three weeks since I posted my summer to-do list. What sort of progress have I made? I’ll share that below, in an updated reprint of the post.

    North of the equator, we’ve just begun summer. Although I’m still going to be working 40 hours a week in my day job, still running the usual errands, still partaking in the same family responsibilities (and joys), I’m also hoping to accomplish certain writing-related goals before we merge into fall.

    After all, for six weeks this summer, my 40 hours at the office will be recalibrated: heavier on Mondays-Thursdays with “summer Fridays” off. I hope to use those Fridays wisely. And I hope that I can use the general light and energy of the summer to help infuse some projects under way and others that I hope to start.

    Herewith, items on my list of writerly hopes, plans, ambitions, and commitments for the season.

    (more…)

    The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2
  • One reason that I love Midge Raymond’s latest writing prompt is that the story I’m drafting right now actually began with the working title, “Mistake.” (It may return to that title, too, but for now it’s got another name.)
  • Coming soon in The Writer: my review of Microstyle: The Art of Writing Little, by Christopher Johnson. Curious about this book? You can win one of 20 free copies via Goodreads! Enter by July 16 (U.S. addresses only).
  • The Story Prize blog is featuring a series of posts (mini-essays and Q&As) with the authors of collections that have been submitted for the 2011 prize. These posts make for great and thoughtful reading. See, for instance, Charles Baxter’s response to the question “What do you think a good short story collection should deliver?”.
  • I’ll be mentioning this again on my other blog, but I’m delighted to learn that poet and professor Rick Chess has joined the team over on Good Letters, the blog of the literary journal Image, which prides itself on presenting “the best writing and artwork that is informed by—or grapples with—religious faith.”
  • Basic guidelines for social media etiquette, courtesy of Robert Lee Brewer.