Category: On Writing
Minding the Gap: American Women Writers and World War I
Travel the roads from the scenes of battle; search the trains; wounded, frozen, starved thousands are dying in agonizing torture—not hundreds, but thousands. —Nellie Bly, “Hospital in Budapest Is Arena of Horror,” Washington Herald, 20 Jan 1915 As famed reporter Nellie Bly makes clear, women witnessed and wrote about the horrors of World War I, […]
How Books Can Empower Girls
Ever since I was little I’ve been inspired by how empowering stories and books can be when they hit the right chord within you. I also knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a professional writer. I started dictating stories to my parents when I was three, tried my hand at […]
A Memoir Narrator Transformed
Speaking of her most recent memoir, Joyce Carol Oates said in an interview, “[T]he elements of fiction…evoke rather than summarize, [which is] the desired goal in…memoir.” These days, memoirs mimic novels in plotting a narrative arc, and incorporating dialog, drama, a climax, and the protagonist’s transformation. The seeming requirement that novelistic techniques figure prominently in […]
The Influence of Social Media on My Life
Proposing to someone is nerve-wracking enough without having the worry of whether the wifi is going to work while you’re doing it. “You can post it later,” I told my nervous boyfriend, as he attempted to upload his guest post to my blog. Why had my boyfriend written me a guest post? I should rewind […]
Crafting a Passion into Writing
Someone asked me recently how I am able to come up with ideas for books to be published. At the time, I answered the question flippantly, saying that I am just very creative; a storyteller at heart. Nonetheless, this question did make me reflect on where an author gets their inspiration. With billions of books […]
Libraries: Still All About the Story
I love libraries. I love the way they smell. The quiet hum of florescent lights and shuffling pages. I love walking up and down the stacks trailing my fingers over the spines looking for the perfect story for my current mood. I love that every book, dvd, and cd has an exact place where I […]
Being a Neurologist and Writer
I’ve always wanted to be a writer, so I became a neurologist. In case this isn’t intuitive, let me explain. For years, I struggled with the decision to become a doctor or a writer. (Well, when I was six, I wanted to be a professional jump roper, but soon found out this wasn’t a viable […]
Healing Through Writing
Imagine you are a woman with 8- and 10-year-old sons who is losing her husband to alcohol. He has refused all help and the financial betrayals must come to an end. You finally worked up the nerve to divorce him and today is the day he has promised to move out—but instead he shows up […]
From Query to Book Deal: Literary Agent Carly Watters
Here’s the story of how women’s fiction author extraordinaire Taylor Jenkins Reid and agent Carly Watters started working together. (Haven’t read her books? Try MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE, her most recent novel with a SLIDING DOORS twist.) In Early February 2012 I receive a query telling me the heart-breaking love story of Elsie and Ben: […]
Writing Black Comedy
Three years ago, I went on a ‘Work in Progress’ writing course to try and find a way to flesh out the bones of an idea I had for a novel. Part of the course was a one-to-one feedback session with the writing tutor. Each delegate had to submit a piece of sample writing and […]
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