Reader Alex recently left this question in the comments section of an earlier blog post, about advice for teen writers: "Hi, I’m a teen writer also, and I love to ... Read More

So much to blog today . . . Richard Nash, former Soft Skull publisher/editor, spoke with Interview magazine about why he left the press and the future of publishing: "It ... Read More

If you've ever wondered, in one of those dark nights of your writer's soul, if a writing life actually does any good -- if maybe teaching inner city kids or ... Read More

Following up on articles on writing in a recession and on writing groups, we wanted to pass on a Philadelphia Inquirer article that addresses the intersection of these two topics. ... Read More

If you think you don't have time to write, think again. See what you can produce with a simple set of writing prompts and ten minutes of your time with ... Read More

With the publishing industry ailing, a number of people have written me asking whether they should consider self-publishing and if there were companies I would recommend. Proponents of self-publishing claim ... Read More

The passion that Stephenie Meyer inspires in her readers continues to floor me. Comments to earlier blog posts, on her next book and the Twilight movie, keep flowing in: "Stephenie ... Read More

In an essay for this site entitled “It’s All in Your Head,” Kris Saknussemm (Zanesville) shares the background for his new novel, Private Midnight. In discussing how he came to ... Read More

Mark Twain fans will be interested to hear that a never-before-seen Twain story, “The Undertaker’s Tale," long buried within an enormous body of unpublished stories, letters, and essays, appeared this ... Read More

In response to an interview with writer Colm Toíbín (The Master), in which he claimed not to have enjoyed writing any of his novels, the Guardian posted responses from other ... Read More

Reader Linda wrote in about a novel she's working on. It's her first time to write a novel, and she was concerned about how much research she should do: "One ... Read More

Sometimes simply using new words can inspire your writing to take a different direction. In this exercise, a few words chosen at random will focus your writing session. As with ... Read More

With the recession, a lot of us are finding ourselves with more time on our hands than before. Unless you're independently wealthy, this is far from ideal, but it's an ... Read More