JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Harlan Ellison's classic Pay the Writer!

Excerpt of an Interview with Walter Mosley

Gore Vidal: Profile of a Writer

Writing Habits

Responding to my post about writing habits, blog reader Lora Mitchell sent me hers:

1. I write at my desk or comfortable recliner.
2. I also do my best writing at night - often until dawn. (a benefit of being retired).
3. I often take time to read something before I sit down to write.
4. I like this, Will work on it.
5. Great idea. Which vocabulary books do you suggest?
6. Lucky you. No caffeine for me. Doc's orders.
7. I take walks during the day to get exercise and fresh air.
8. I often write 5-6 hours straight or until the bum gets sore.
9. I catch up on my reading while taking long bubble baths.
10. A notepad is always at my bedside table. First thing in the morning, still in the lazy, dreamy state, I often get a solution to a current project ~ or struck by a fresh idea for a story A few weeks. ago, I had such an unusual, vivid dream, I quickly jotted down a synopsis, got to my laptop after a quickie breakfast and gave birth to a lovely short story.

Check out Lora's journal at:

http://triplemoonstar.blogspot.com/
Click here

What are YOUR writing habits?

FREE Consultations to 5 Writers!

Guys,

I'm giving away five-minute phone consultations to those 5 writers leaving the best comments to the following question:

What's your biggest frustration as a writer?

Contest ends Sunday, Oct. 25. Winners named Nov. 8.

God, I can't wait to see the responses!

Mike

Andre Dubus III: Becoming a Writer

My Writing Habits in 10 Parts

My Writing Habits in 10 Parts
By Michael P. Geffner

1) I love writing outside. Can't stand being shackled to my desk. Write mostly at 24-hour cafes in downtown Manhattan.

2) I love writing after midnight. My best work has mostly come between 2-4 am. Who knows what it is that stirs me those hours. And frankly, who cares? The fact, is, I know this about myself and it works for me.

3) I love reading something great - sections of books or long magazine articles - before sititing down to write. My favorite for this exercise is Gay Talese's Fame and Obscurity. Awesome and timeless. Really gets my creative juices flowing.

4) I love having my lead paragraphs fully polished and ready to go before writing any other parts of the story. Without those first four, five graphs to guide me, I'm completely lost. So I often kill myself to get this done.

5) I love reading vocabulary books before I write. By doing this, I almost always discover a great word that perfectly fits my story.

6) I love having my cup of French Roast coffee, piping hot and luscious smelling, right there at my left hand. My drug of choice. My friend. My security blanket. Without it, I can't function.

7) I love taking breaks, even take a short walk, when I'm stuck for the next graph. This is far better than hitting my head with a hammer or suffering a nervous breakdown.

8) I love writing three hours a days, but that's it. It's not within my DNA to go longer. I'm incredibly jealous of those that can write all day.

9) I love thinking about my stories in the shower. Some of my best work has come that way. Sometimes, I'll lose track of time doing this, to where the bathtub nearly flows over.

10) I love waking up in the middle of the night, struck by an idea for my story. Sometimes, I'm disciplined enough to write the idea down on a piece of paper; sometimes, I'm not. Sometimes, I remember the idea; sometimes I don't. Sometimes, the idea is pure genius; sometimes, sadly, it's utter crap.

I'm not sure I believe in...

By Michael P. Geffner
I'm not sure I believe in...

...writer's block. I do believe in people wanting so badly to be writers, but really have little, if nothing to say.

...freelance writing gurus. I do believe that most them are nothing but hucksters making their money from writing books on how to become a freelance writer, rather than actually doing it. Just like all those middle-of-the-night informercial guys selling their programs on how to make money investing in real estate.

...starving artists. I do believe in self-fulfilling prophecies.

...teaching people how to become writers. I do believe you can make people better, help them understand craft and grammar and the such, but the talent for putting words together is something that comes from such a different, distant place.

...poetry contests. I do believe that 99% of them are scams preying on the desperation of aspiring poets looking for validation.

Time to Take Stock

With summer ending and fall beginning, it’s a great time for all of us writers to take stock of ourselves and see where we are in our careers, to look objectively, if not brutally, at how we’re pursuing and achieving our goals - or not.

Ask yourself:

Am I progressing at a reasonable rate?

Am I following my career plans and strategies?

Am I working hard enough at the craft?

Am I writing enough?

Am I developing better discipline?

Am I pitching editors enough?

Am I becoming a better and better writer?

Am I excited about my work?

Am I getting to know more and more editors and building a network on which I can rely?

Am I staying on schedule with my projects?

Am I getting paid enough for my stories?

Am I networking enough with industry powerbrokers?

Am I using the social networks enough to meet successful writers and editors?


If you’re answering no to too many of these questions, you definitely need to undergo a severe writing-career makeover.

Why are these things not happening for you?

And how do you go about changing that?

Are you serious about this goal of becoming a professional writer or simply in love with the dream?

I encourage each and every one of you to spend time this week, if only for an hour, to work on finding out exactly where you stand—and please, for your sake more than anyone’s, be honest with yourself. It’s the only way to discover your inner truth.

Good luck!

Writer Larry Gelbart Dies

Read obit here:

Click here

Ernest Hemingway's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Virginia Woolf - Only Recording

One of My All-Time Favorite Videos on Writing: Harlan Ellison's Pay the Writer

Warning: Adult Language

My Facebook Fan Page

Michael P. Geffner on Facebook

Gay Talese's Style

What I'm doing these days - in case you were wondering

Seven Questions with Poet/Author Nikki Giovanni

Seven Questions with Poet/Author Nikki Giovanni
Interview conducted by Serena M. Augusto-Cox
http://www.savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/
Click here

Augusto-Cox: What prompted you to become involved with Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat? Do you think poetry is important for children and adults and why?

Giovanni: I became interested a long, long time ago because my son listened to hip hop. I began even then to try to learn where this “new sound” was coming from since I well know everything old is new again, as the expression goes.

Augusto-Cox: Poetry and music seem very akin to one another; do you feel that other genres can apply the rhythm of Hip Hop and other styles to generate passion among children, such as a passion for reading?

Giovanni: I think there is an ebb and flow to everything; there is a rhythm to all speech whether spoken or written. The most important sound is always silence. It is the pauses that make up the meaning. I wanted to give some sense of that rhythm to young people as well as a bit of history.

Augusto-Cox: Do you believe that writing is an equalizer that can help humanity become more tolerant and collaborative?

Giovanni: Writing is an equalizer only in so far as what is being written is truthful. Written lies promote hatred and we've seen a lot of that lately. Writing is only a tool of the truth, and we who believe in a more tolerant world need to keep putting that truth out.

Augusto-Cox: Do you see spoken word, performance poetry, or written poetry as more powerful or powerful in different ways and why?

Giovanni: I think all art has its moments and reasons. I don't see any special reason to rank effectiveness since we all cross over and learn from each genre.

Augusto-Cox: Do you have a set writing routine? Do you get up early and start writing or do you write when the mood hits?

Giovanni: I am an early morning or late night writer. I am more comfortable when I know I will not be disturbed. I must say that mood has nothing to do with professionalism. All writers study all the time, learning something all the time, looking at things differently all the time. That's what is important.

Augusto-Cox: Can you describe your writing space?

Giovanni: I write in essentially a tight space. It is a small room with lots of books, a CD player, some photos, and my computer. I have a phone in here but it seldom rings. Also, my fax and Xerox machine. I sit on a rocker.

Augusto-Cox: Do you have any advice for writers/poets just starting out?

Giovanni: The only advice I have is you, the young writer, should always be reading something—a book, a magazine, a newspaper, anything. A writer who is not reading isn't doing her homework.

Dr. Wayne Dyer: Living the Wisdom of the Tao

Portrait of Hemingway