Writing

The road to bitterness When I was in tenth grade, I developed an infatuation with James Drought, an author whose yellow-backed Avon paperback, The Secret, I found on a revolving rack at the drugstore. Drought’s autobiographical novel—more of an extended diatribe—exuded the sort of educated rage and gloom that appealed to a cautiously rebellious and……

The gateway to publication and success as a writer is the “literary agent.” There are hundreds of these, mostly in New York City and each harboring strongly held “genre” preferences. This edition of Write Away illuminates the unsubtle art of rejection by literary agencies, a baptism of blood that every aspiring author must eventually encounter.……

As the benefactor of a scholarship competition for young writers at my alma mater, La Follette High School in Madison, I have a chance, at least once a year to converse with promising young writers. I cheer them on, but also worry about the challenges they face if they expect their talent to bestow fame……

This issue of Write Away derives from a presentation I’ve given several times to young writers. There are many habits, some of them peculiar to a particular writer, that a storyteller learns and then cultivates. The seven I’ve listed here are—or ought to be—universal. The seven keys of storytelling A question every author hears is……

The Ember of Anger When I was still muddling with my prose in high school, there was a big trend in the literary world for the sort of writer referred to as the “angry young man.” (Note that no market existed whatsoever for “angry young women.” The closest I might possibly cite in those days……