Where Sigrid Nunez Elevates the Game (to Its Proper Level)

From an interview with Amanda Marbais on KUCI (Writers On Writing):

"Back when I was a student in an MFA program, you took it for granted that one of the reasons that a student wanted to be a writer was because that student loved literature and loved reading. And now it is far from uncommon to meet an aspiring writer who says that they don't want to read and in fact they don’t like reading, they don’t have really any interest in literature but they want to be a writer anyway. That's very difficult to work with. And I don’t really understand it because it's so different from the way I saw things and still see things…

“…as I recall, when I was young, there was really an emphasis on this idea that writing was a vocation and that you should be thinking of it as a vocation and not as a career. Now you'll find a lot of students in writing programs for whom it's sort of seen as more of a lifestyle that they're looking for. And one of the reasons why they want to be a writer is because they think it has a certain kind of life that will not only be enjoyable but will lift their self-esteem. And I think about what somebody like Philip Roth would say is how frustrating writing is. ‘It's like baseball, you fail two-thirds of the time.’ And toward the end of his life saying, “I just can’t do it anymore, I just cant face this failure all the time.’ That is very familiar to any professional writer.”

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A humbling, lens-correcting quote.

Last night I was reading a few pieces out loud for a reading at Octopus Literary Salon later this month and I realized how many typos slip in there and how much I’m not revising. (On the Creative Nonfiction podcast Kiese Laymon said the Heavy you see on shelves was his twentieth revision. Of the entire book. Jesus.) Nunez addresses general laziness in the rest of her interview. So, I was excited last night to remember I have the ability to catch my own mistakes and edit myself. And I’ve discovered that when I know an audience awaits, I edit way harder. Maybe there’s a way to mimic those conditions regularly…or find a writing group, which I am looking for.

I’ve been noticing The Friend for months and months. Excited to read.

P.S. Nunez ALSO heard "if you can do anything other than write, do that" when she was a student! From Elizabeth Hardwick!

MFA Morning and the Man Booker Prize

This morning I had the pleasure of reading Lisa Allardice’s interview with Laura Burns, whose book, Milkman, just won the Man Booker prize. Burns is an unassuming author—my favorite kind and the kind I’d like to be—and her journey was both difficult and inspiring. Maybe I’ll eventually open The Artist’s Way. Maybe. News courtesy of LitHub.

Pictured below is my new borrowed printer, courtesy of the handsome and talented Tomio, with which I printed 108 pages this morning. Also pictured is my meditation cushion, the copy of BOMB I filched from the free pile at McSweeney’s last week, my IKEA rug, purple folder full of my mother’s old medical records which I would never throw away but have also never really written about, and an older draft of my thesis.

My thesis (approximately 65% of a book manuscript) is due (round 1, during which two of my professors will read and send back with comments) in two weeks.

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Litquake 2018: Pursuit of Publishing

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Yesterday, Tomio and I attended Litquake’s four-part panel on publishing and promoting your work at the very-cool-to-stroll-through California College of the Arts.

Here are some resources and bits I learned.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or experiences of your own, please comment or send me a message. I’d love to hear from you.

Websites

Publishers Marketplace
Scrivener
Wattpad 

Organizations / Fellowships / Residencies / Opportunities

The Castro Writers’ Cooperative
The Grotto
SFWW.org
The Escapery
Hedgebrook
Women’s National Book Association – SF Chapter
Wellstone Center
PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship
Clarion Workshop
Launchpad
Viable Paradise
Taos Toolbox
California Writers Club
BookWritingWorld
SF Writers Conference 

Books Mentioned

Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Wired For Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron
The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass
Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Podcasts

“Writers On Writing”
For more inspiration, 29 other podcasts! Ah!

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Panel 1: Chelsea Lindman, Michael Carr, Andrea Morrison, Maya Sisneros, David Hale Smith

Getting Past The Gatekeepers

  • Don’t be afraid to send your query letter to younger agents.

  • “A great time to get started on next project is when you’re querying.”

  • “Keep on swinging.”

  • “We are gatekeepers now but quickly become fans and then advocates and business partners.”

The Query Letter

-       References, if you have ‘em: writers “who’ve been through this process before” or editors, people willing to vouch for you
-       Keep biographical information relevant
-       Accurately communicate what your manuscript is about
-       If It’s similar to other writers/books, share that (be accurate, have readers tell you if your writing is actually like Margaret Atwood’s, for example)
-       Can list events like Litquake, conferences, MFA, internship, info that shows you’re serious
-       Publishing credits (nice to have if you have em)

  “The first 50 pages are really important.”

Panel 2: Janine Novac, Michelle Jeffers, Brad Johnson, Nina Schuyler, Cynthia Shannon

Building a Platform 

  • Libraries are a great resource. They’re already doing the discovery work of finding books like that book you love.

  • SF Library: “We want to promote our local authors”

  • Local booksellers: come by, say hello.

  • Collaborate w/other authors – cross-promote – doubles the audience
    Can be a conversation with another author
    SF library – teaching CW classes

If not yet published…

  • Always have readers reading your work – ideally not people who already know you

  • Claim your online presence

  • Think about who you’re writing for

  • Define what you stand for – What do you want to be known for? What do you care about? 

(There are special readings for debut writers, special fellowships, it’s practically its own genre. Great opportunity)

Panel 3: Ho Lin, Mae Respicio, Nik Sharma, Adam Smyer, Hilary Zaid

An Overnight Success Ten Years in the Making

Persistence and being stubborn are key qualities.
Learn your craft. Make sure basics are perfect.  

What they learned:

  • Maintain a writing practice

  • Don’t compare yourself to others

  • Make time for family, friends, fun

  • Have a literary community (be a literary citizen :) )

  • “Good feedback resonates” – Don’t have to take everything. Keep listening to self, keep listening to others, be willing to change the book 

  • Question to ask agent, editor: What’s your communication style?

  • (Tip: It’s nice to have a standing meeting w/agent so there’s no waiting for news in between) 

  • WHAT AM I TRYING TO COMMUNICATE? Then I’ll know who gets it or not and why and who to listen to.

Panel 4: Leslie Carol Roberts, Mary Volmer, Scott James, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Casey Bennett

It Takes a Village: On writing communities

  • Take advantage of SF/west coast publishing

  • “Writers here are more willing to talk to you.”

  • Same as previous panel: what is my intention? What am I doing? — How is it being read? Who is getting it? What’s working/not?  

  • Lucky! There are so many independent booksellers here in CA!

Where can I contribute? Where can I listen? Where can I lead? How can I help?

   

A:C Ratio to become a better writer

A=Ass

C=Chair