I was watching an episode of The Voice last night and I was thinking how the job of those singers and the job of a writer is pretty much the same. You’ve got a hot minute—less than a minute—to create some sort of experience your audience wants. Contestants on The Voice start out by auditioning “blind”. They sing while the…
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Let me be clear that I do not think that writers need to submit their work to literary magazines. First of all, some of you are writing books, and not the shorter fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry that most journals publish. Secondly, publishing is not the end-all-be-all. Who cares if you ever publish your work? It’s worth writing for plenty…
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I love first sentences, first paragraphs, first pages. I love the promise of transport and transformation for the reader and I love the creative opportunity and challenge for the writer. I’ve gathered some thoughts on beginnings from famous writers of fiction and nonfiction. Read them and then ask yourself how you feel about the beginning of your current work in…
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