the art of writing
advice from writers, and more on writing
Brie Wolfson and
the art of writing
I don’t love writing; I love having a problem I believe I might someday write my way out of.
Sarah Manguso • 300 Arguments
Time is the best editor.
If you have it, time is the easiest trick for self-editing. Simply put your work away long enough so when you come back to it you can see it with fresh eyes.
INTERVIEWER: As your experience about writing accrues, what would you say increases with knowledge?
BALDWIN: You learn how little you know. It becomes much more difficult because the hardest thing in the world is simplicity. And the most fearful thing, too. It becomes more difficult because you have to strip yourself of all your disguises, some of... See more
BALDWIN: You learn how little you know. It becomes much more difficult because the hardest thing in the world is simplicity. And the most fearful thing, too. It becomes more difficult because you have to strip yourself of all your disguises, some of... See more
Cynthia Haven • James Baldwin: “You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal.”
Grace Lin: She asks, Where do you get your ideas?... See more
Mo Willems: Well, Leah, that's a very good question and I'm afraid you may not like the answer because ideas are not things you get. People tend to think that ideas are things like diamonds. And then you go out and you get them and you grab them and you bring them back. But that's not what ideas are.
Grace Lin • Episode 9: Where do you get your ideas? With Mo Willems — Kids Ask Authors
The robot was quite good at copying my style, but much less good at writing anything meaningful. It could predict which words I would be most likely to use but it couldn’t make an original argument for me. Using the robot made me think a lot about the nature of writing and what goes in to its peculiar form of labor. AI tools fundamentally promise... See more
Kyle Chayka • My writing robot
Constantly ask: what am I trying to say? Then ask: have I said it?
