Category: Uncategorized
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How to Write Literary Prose
What is the difference, you may wonder, between literary writing and genre writing? Or, you may wonder, how do I ensure that when I look for an agent, or when I submit to literary magazines, that my work is recognized as literary rather than genre? The answer is in the prose. If you’re writing genre…
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On Submission
Hi everyone Apologies for the long period of silence, I had a lot of trouble with Stephen King’s people after my last post (read it here). This post, be forewarned, is not as juicy as Stephen King’s Steroid Secrets. Instead, I offer you a bit of news about my professional life. All summer, my agent…
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Stephen King’s Steroid Secrets
Let’s talk Stephen King–and why I think his career is suspicious. King suggests a daily routine of about three hours writing, three hours reading, and one long walk per day—a routine that is very difficult for an all-natural writer to sustain year-round. While it is possible that Mr. King is natural, I have extreme doubts.…
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Rescue your ending with the Wheel of Callbacks
No, endings are not as difficult or mysterious as everyone makes them out to be. I don’t say that they are easy. No stage of novel-writing is necessarily easy. But I think writers and professors are too quick to throw up their hands and say, “endings are just hard.” No, no, no, no! They aren’t…
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Scenework pt. 2: Occupation
In my previous post, I talked about how Interruption can make your scenes more interesting. Today I’ll be talking about another method for giving your scenes shape, complexity, and realism: a device I call “Occupation.” This is an unimaginative name, because Occupation just means giving your characters something to do. I’ll show you my favorite…
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The Interruption Method
Write Better Scenes, pt. 1 There’s an axiom in novel writing: “Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait.” Making them wait could be the most important part of the equation. Related axiom: “Write the boring parts quickly, write the exciting parts slowly.” If you know that you are in an exciting scene, SLOW…
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Signing with an Agent
Nolan Here! I have two pieces of very good news. The smaller good news is that a nonfiction piece of mine, “Strange Fire” has been picked up for publication by Arts & Letters, the literary magazine of Georgia College. I’m so excited that this piece is coming out—for the publication, and because they are going…
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The Relief of Rejection
In 2020, I applied for a fellowship at NYU. The job was to lead NYU’s Veteran Writers’ Workshop, and the compensation was a year’s free tuition plus a monthly stipend. But I wanted the position because I was a veteran myself, I liked the group, and I thought I could do a good job. Just…
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Ideas for a Healthy Writing Routine
Hi all! As a part of a nonfiction workshop I am attending, I filmed the following video. In it, I discuss the value of a writing routine and a mindset that puts process over product. Please check it out if you have nine minutes to spare, and if you’d like some ideas for a routine…
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Dialogue Done Well Enough
In the first creative writing class I ever took, I read a useful craft book whose name escapes me now. Let’s just call it Telling the Story. Telling the Story gave me the following formative advice on dialogue: attribute your dialogue either with a dialogue tag or with an action, never both. This advice is…
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