An Impractical Solution for an Impractical Era
Given that we’re already well into the second decade of the twenty-first century, I’m willing to bet that your writing machine is also an e-mail machine, a blog machine, a magazine and newspaper machine, a Facebook machine, a Twitter machine, and in some cases a pinball machine.
Impermanent Things
The amateur novelist comes to understand a key aspect of novel writing: no change—minor or catastrophic—is off the table. Today’s episode: the delirious fever of rewriting.
The Long Overdue Literary Update
In the news: a bankrupt literary giant; the lost art of editing; Nabokov on butterflies; the first annual Good Sex Awards; the antithetical nature of MFA programs; and the dreaded reader's block.
From Your Lips She Drew the Hallelujah
The long history of Rebellious Bird brought to a close? Even the amateur novelist knows the completion of a novel is only the beginning.
The Premiere of Season Two
Paralyzed with fear! Back to work again, will the amateur novelist escape the evil clutches of the impossible Perfect Novel?
This Week’s Literary Hors d’ouvres
Slate Magazine on the divide in literary culture; The New Yorker interviews George Saunders; Rachel Toor on "cling[ing] to the notion of romantic genius"; Bad Writing, the movie; and all about authorial personas.
Writer, Interrupted
In the unexpected but inevitable season finale of The Novelist’s Deflowering, the amateur novelist learns that to write a better book he must overcome his impatience by letting go of his dreams.
Perfectionism, or The Art of the Stalemate
The amateur novelist finds that writing a novel is a game one cannot win.
The Novelist’s Deflowering: A Question of Discipline
The amateur novelist laments the lack of creativity involved in the fifth draft. It all becomes very mechanical.
The Novelist’s Deflowering: The Analytical Side of Creativity
The amateur novelist applies the wisdom garnered from a soul crushing day job to his highest passion.
The Novelist’s Deflowering: On the Completion of the Third Draft
Unruly and complex emotions continue to make themselves known as the amateur novelist reaches another milestone in the revision process.
The Novelist’s Deflowering: On the Journal
The amateur novelist preaches the sanctity of a Notebook of One's Own.
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