Category: On Writing
The Insanity Defense
It’s the subject of constant debate and since the beginning of the written word, authors and artists have been asked the question: “Where did it all go wrong?” If anyone has asked you this question, you may in fact have an advantage over other writers or creative folks. It implies that you can spin a […]
How Courageous Are You?
Since publishing my own story a year ago, and gathering the stories of women who wished to share their truths in a collaborative anthology, I have been reminded just how difficult it can be to put our truths out into the world. Sharing our stories makes us vulnerable to criticism and judgment. Yet our life […]
Between Two Worlds
“I am alone in my room, between two worlds.” – Sylvia Plath “I like it better when you’re not working on a book,” my youngest daughter announced the other day at breakfast. “Really?” I asked, rather taken aback. “Why is that?” My daughter speared a piece of sausage with her fork and gave me a […]
What it Takes to be a Writer
Virginia Woolf is famous for having said that to be a woman and a writer, one needed a room of one’s own and five hundred pounds a year. In essence, she was advocating for space and time. Of course she was correct. Of course these are two essential components of a successful writing life. It’s […]
The Scariest Moments in a Writer’s Life
Vampires? Witches? Ghouls? Yes, they’re Halloween scary (maybe), but they’ve got nothing on the spookiest moments from a writer’s life. All writers can list at least three things that can send us screeching and cowering under our bed covers. I’ll tell you mine (including my fright-busting fixes), if you tell us yours. 1. Eeeek! The […]
Procrastination
I’m just over halfway through writing my novel and the whole process reminds me of the one time I went on a diet. I started it on the Monday morning, which is of course the Law of Diets, and by Tuesday lunchtime I was feeling a little bit thinner and very virtuous. Look at me, […]
The Forgotten Women of the War in the East
Isabel Wolff’s latest novel, “Shadows Over Paradise” is a poignant story about a Dutch girl and her family struggling to survive in a Japanese internment camp on Java. Isabel tells WWWB what drew her to this neglected part of World War 2 history. I’ve always had a fascination for the Pacific War. It began at […]
Journalism and Fiction Writing
Journalism and fiction writing are often seen as two very different beasts, but my years spent as a journalist have, without a doubt, informed my fiction writing, mostly for the better. As a journalist you quickly learn how to grab your reader from the very first sentence, after which you slowly unspool your tale, dropping […]
Is It Chick Lit? Is It Not Chick Lit? What Do We Call It?
In The Writer on Her Work, Vol. 1, an essay collection edited by Janet Sternburg and published in 1980, Mary Gordon writes, “I have been told by male but not by female critics that my work was ‘exquisite,’ ‘lovely,’ ‘like a watercolor.’ They, of course, were painting in oils. They were doing important work.” Three […]
Qaisra Shahraz: Researching a Novel in Morocco
Qaisra Shahraz, born in Pakistan, is a critically acclaimed novelist and scriptwriter and has lived in Manchester since she was nine. Her books have been published in numerous countries and translated into various languages. We asked her if she could tell us about her latest research for her novel based in Morocco. Apart from journalism, research […]
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