Book Coaching & Editing Services for Writers of Fiction & Creative Nonfiction
Last week, I wrote about the 1950 film All About Eve and how much I love the way its ending mirrors its beginning. The screenplay for All About Eve is based on a short story, “The Wisdom of Eve,” written by American author Mary Orr (1910-2006). In fact, a lot of great films are based … Read More
Spoiler alert: I’m going to discuss the beginnings and endings of Celeste Ng’s novel Everything I Never Told You, Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, and the classic 1950 film All About Eve, screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. I won’t give away the ending of Ng’s novel specifically, in terms of what happens in the story, but … Read More
In her poetry collection Call Us What We Carry, poet Amanda Gorman writes, “Change is made of choices, and choices are made of character.” Gorman is a writer and is the youngest inaugural poet in US history. But she wasn’t referring to the craft of writing when she wrote this. She was writing about the … Read More
I once attended a lecture by Rob Roberge, the author of the memoir Liar, novels including The Cost of Living, and the short story collection Working Backwards from the Worst Moment of My Life. Actually, I’ve attended many a lecture by Rob Roberge. The man knows his stuff. But during this particular lecture, Roberge said … Read More
I thought I’d close out National Poetry Month with some thoughts for those of us who are not poets. I want to tell you why I think poetry should be a part of any writer’s life and how it can improve your prose writing. Thinking of your writing in terms of poetry can help establish … Read More
In honor of National Poetry Month, I’d like to share a poem with you, writers. For copyright reasons, I can’t reprint it here, but it’s published in full on the Poetry Foundation website. It’s called “For the young who want to,” and it’s about being an artist. It was written by novelist, poet, and memoirist … Read More
Photograph of Melissa Febos by Beowulf Sheehan I am beginning the new year by writing about the best craft book I read in 2022 because I want us—me and you too, dear reader—to carry this book with us not only into 2023, but into the rest of our lives. Body Work: The Radical Power of … Read More
I had a lightbulb moment the other day—I realized that I picked up some of my bad writing habits from classic literature, and I realized these bad habits aren’t necessarily bad but bad for the time. One of my worst writing habits, which I often see in my clients’ writing, is improper balance or proportion. … Read More
Deciding whether to write a memoir or a novel can sometimes be complicated. Some writers even try to avoid making a choice by writing what they call “autofiction,” a blend of memoir and fiction. In an article in Publisher’s Weekly, “Autofiction: What It Is and What It Isn’t,” author and fellow book coach Brooke Warner … Read More
Some friends of mine over at Kelp Journal got together and wrote Published: A Craft Guide, a series of essays by current and former Kelp Journal editors on crafting fiction submissions that stand out. Edited by Kelp Journal managing editor A.E. Santana, Published offers essays on topics including structure, point of view, dialogue, characters, suspense, voice, genre, and living with … Read More