Ginny's Fiction Writing Blog

So last year, when HarperCollins announced it was publishing James Frey's next novel, Bright Shiny Morning, I felt vaguely guilty for blogging it here. Hadn't he gotten enough publicity from the memoir debacle already? Wasn't I just further rewarding -- and benefiting from -- his bad behavior? And yet, I saw that my most beloved Guardian Online had interviewed him this month, and then a comment showed up on that Bright Shiny blog posting from way back in 2007. So people are reading the new book and then even Googling it. I was intrigued. Clearly people still wanted to talk about his work, at least, and maybe that's how it should be. In any case, I wanted to find out, and a poll seemed the perfect way to do it.

And if a poll isn't enough for ya', leave a comment -- and then, depending on what box you checked, read the Guardian's spoof on the new book.)

Recently, reader Cammie wrote in asking, "I wondered if you might be able to suggest a good book on revising the first draft of a novel. It's already become clear to me that I need to develop my characters up front better, before racing through the story (which is pretty strong). But when I spent a lot of time developing character, I ended up writing pages of biographical exposition right in the middle of the story! So I need to learn how to subtly interweave character revelation with storytelling, without letting it drag (which, to me, sounds about as easy as sticking an elephant through a pin hole!)"

I wrote back: "I had similar problems with my book and found it helpful to turn to classic works of literature that have things in common with my book to see how they did it. Since your book is very plot-oriented, you might try something like Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen puts her reader at the heart of the plot immediately, and yet the dialogue's so revelatory that you never feel anything's missing in terms of character development. (If dialogue isn't your strong suit, look around for another writer who shares your strengths, to see how they use them.)

"Francine Prose has a good book about how to read books for this purpose. I know this sounds like a much more labor-intensive way of learning, but I don't know of a how-to book that really answers this question."

And yet screenwriters have Story, which seems to basically do this. I wanted to turn this question to a wider audience, in part to see if others had books that had helped them. But I also wondered if, as creative writers, we really want a formula? Screenplays have to be somewhat formulaic, right, but do we really want that for our novels?

Every summer I look over our lists of writers' rooms to make sure everthing's current, and I was pleased this year to see that not one had closed -- it seems these spaces are surviving, if not downright flourishing, at least in urban areas. And this summer, we even had two new spaces to add, WriterHouse in Charlottesville, VA, and Ditmas Workspace, pictured here, in Brooklyn, NY.

I received notice that a new journal is seeking submissions of prose, poetry, and art by November 1 for their flagship issue, and wanted to pass it on. The journal, West Goes South, "is located in the elbow of Los Angeles and the hip of Charlotte, NC. As any new independent journal, we are still finding our voice in this sea of free presses, so feel free to send us anything from the experimental, to the witty, and, yes, even literature." Please submit material along the theme of "The Longest Day" to West Goes South and read about other journals here.

Recently reader Rose J. wrote in with a question about permissions: "I have co-authored a children's book in which the main character visits major landmarks like Yankee Stadium, BB King's Blues Club, and Central Park. Nothing is described in great detail, and nothing is described in a negative or a disparaging way. My question is: do we need to get permission in order to mention these places in the book? Is there something documented somewhere that I can refer to?"

My response to Rose was that no permission is needed for describing major landmarks. Publishers worry about things like images, poetry, and trademarked names. And should there be some question, the publishers will have their legal people take a look. Unless it's a major part of your book -- like say, your main character is a doll named Barbie -- let them pay to do the research, and concentrate your efforts on getting the book written and published.

But in this litigious age, it doesn't hurt to be informed. Columbia University has a good copyright site, courtesy of their Copyright Advisory Office. More information is also available on the U.S. copyright office site.

But there are plenty of resources out there. If you have tips -- or if you have your own experiences with copyright questions -- please give them up below. And of course feel free to peruse other reader questions here.

Lately I've been thinking about the advice I've received over the years that continues to reverberate and to sustain my writing. Some of these insights were from teachers, but a lot originated in the interviews with writers on this site. It led me to focus this week's newsletter on a few of these, and to pull out this advice from Amanda Eyre Ward: "Have faith. Surround yourself with people who believe writing is important. Fall in love with writers and read everything they've done...."

All of this got me wondering what advice About.com readers might have. What's the best advice you've ever received about writing? Pass it on in the comments below.

You've got to love a press that has "Really Fab Books" running at the top of their home page. Which is one of the many reasons I was pleased to learn about Press 53, a small publisher of literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. With the mainstream publishing industry about to cough up its last lung, I'm convinced these small, savvy, passionate presses are going to save the soul of American literature. (Pick up the interview with novelist Garth Stein in this month's Poets and Writers for an example of how they not only save souls, but careers.) If you've got a book that's been rejected by the corporate presses -- or you just want to discover some new good books -- read more about Press 53 and other independent presses.

A friend of mine in Hawai'i introduced me to Mānoa ten years ago and then sent me the most recent issue, Maps of Reconciliation, this spring, which led me to profile it next for the list of smaller journals (though with a subscriber base of 2,500, Mānoa isn't that small). Mānoa brings the voices of Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas to English-speaking readers. In this day and age, such sources are obviously more important than ever -- and Mānoa is so well-crafted that exploring it is a pleasure, as guest reviewer Gay Davis notes.

This spring, an old Paris Review interview led me to make a study of Katherine Anne Porter. I started with some of her most acclaimed works and then read the biography by Joan Givner. While we're often advised to immerse ourselves in the work of one writer, I found that reading the biography afterwards made that experience even more valuable. Through the biography, I got to see how these stories and short novels came into being: what life experiences went into them, what her process was like, and what her stumbling blocks were. For instance, I had an epiphany when I saw that she often put stories aside for years. I'm always afraid that if I don't muddle through right then, I'll never go back to it. But clearly for Katherine Anne Porter, this was integral to her success. She kept the drafts, returning to them when she had the insight or skill to finish them properly. I imagine that this kept her from ruining or overworking her stories, and from wasting time that could be spent writing new work (though I've a feeling she actually spent that time drinking!).

I've done this twice before, with Raymond Chandler and Eudora Welty, and both times I took something away. How-tos are fine, but there's something to be said for seeing what worked for others, and understanding exactly why.

For the rest of the summer, I'll be taking a closer look at how to submit to some of the literary journals and magazines described on this site. Naturally I started at the top, with The New Yorker, but as I reviewed the magazine's fiction, I wondered what other writers thought of the work they publish. Do you think of it as old school or fresh or a mix of both? Weigh in with the poll, or comment below.