Aspiring Novelist? Read This

Fiction writer offers tips on juggling creativity, career
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 11, 2008 2:15 PM CDT
Aspiring Novelist? Read This
Make sure to find a peaceful spot to write.   (Shutterstock)

“I’ve always wanted to write” is something novelist Allegra Goodman hears a lot, so she lays out some advice in the Boston Globe for the doctors, venture capitalists, and lactation consultants with stories to tell:

  • “To begin, don’t write about yourself.” Writing is about imagining and understanding other people’s lives. Observe people and “replay their conversation in your mind.”

  • Write in a peaceful space. The definition is relative: “Peace is not the same as quiet. Peace means you avoid checking your e-mail every 10 seconds.”
  • “Read widely, and dissect books in your mind.” Make sure to read nonfiction, to see how those writers tell a story, and poetry “to go where words are worshipped.”

(More writer stories.)

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