Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
I know it sounds strange but I love learning about how people go about creating things. So you can imagine my delight when I came across Mason Currey’s new book Daily Rituals, which describes …
Writing
Ernest Hemingway’s Powerful Letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald
Just after the publication of his new novel in 1934, Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald asked his friend Ernest Hemingway for an honest opinion on the book. The story, about Dick and Nicole …
Plato’s Argument Against Writing
“Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.” — Chinese Proverb *** From Plato’s Phaedrus, commenting on the invention of writing. Here, O …
Kurt Vonnegut: How To Write With Style
Kurt Vonnegut on writing with style. Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? Do so as a mark of respect for your readers, whatever you’re writing. If you …
Kurt Vonnegut at the Writers’ Workshop
A former student writes an essay on what Kurt Vonnegut was like as a teacher at the Writers’ Workshop: He told us in workshop classes, “You’re in the entertainment business.” He impressed this …
A Conversation With Jane Jacobs
Fascinating interview with Jane Jacobs. Jacobs is the author of one of the most important books to be written on American urban life. EW: You wrote your 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American …
The Best Book On The Art Of Writing
Last year, literary critic Joseph Epstein wrote The best book on the art of writing that I know is F. L. Lucas’ Style: The Art of Writing Well. At the time of Epstein’s comments, the book …
22 Rules Pixar Uses To Create Appealing Stories
Emma Coats, a storyboard artist at Pixar Animation, recently tweeted a series of “story basics,” on how to create appealing stories: #1: You admire a character for trying more than for …
Kurt Vonnegut: The Shapes of Stories
In this short lecture, Kurt Vonnegut explains the different shapes that stories can take using a chalkboard. Now let me give you a marketing tip. The people who can afford to buy books and magazines …