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The author of twelve books of fiction and nonfiction confronts the question every writer inevitably faces: Is my compulsion to tell the truth stronger than my fear of the consequences?
“Don’t stop writing, no matter what.” —Diana Khoi Nguyen, author of Root Fractures
“Adjust one small plot point in the second half of the book, and you realize you’ve got to go back to the beginning and account for that change.” —Soon Wiley, author of When We Fell Apart
“I am a fitful writer: long periods of not writing followed by intense engagement.” —Dana Levin, author of Now Do You Know Where You Are
“To be a writer, the best thing someone can do, in my opinion, is read. Read everything.” —Eloisa Amezcua, author of Fighting Is Like a Wife
“I hope everyone who writes begins by recognizing their own value and the value of the very act of their having chosen to write.” —Dara Barrois/Dixon (formerly Dara Wier), author of Tolstoy Killed Anna Karenina
“Get out of the way of the writing. Don’t make it precious. Sit down and get to it.” —Roger Reeves, author of Best Barbarian
The author of The Step Back offers strategies for short-story writers trying to draft a novel for the first time and shares how a new approach—aiming to pen a thousand pages—led to his first novel.
Write a poem considering what you see without focusing on its meaning, a short story based on a mysterious occurrence, or an essay about your New Year’s traditions.
Eight authors—Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Mark Wunderlich, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Samantha Hunt, Edward Carey, Juan Felipe Herrera, Darcey Steinke, and Terrance Hayes—offer a glimpse into their notebooks and their creative process.
