the art of writing

There’s also something to be said about collating and curating in the slow writing process—facts, knowledge, smells, descriptions, stories, passport stamps, headlines—until the collection becomes part of the transformation process. Through acute and critical attention, away from the drive of production, toward the singularity of studying a branch,... See more

Write little phrases that will “open a door to a scene”: Often, we can’t see our entire project in its full form, but we can see little pieces of it. A curtain moving in the morning light, for example. A man sneaking around a house. Jotting down these little hints “open a door” for your future writer-self.

Writers serve the public as historians of vibe. What does it feel like to be here, now?

Putting aside the need to earn a living, I think there are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They exist in different degrees in every writer, and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time, according to the atmosphere in which he is living. They are:

(i) Sheer egoism. Desire to seem clever, to be... See more

Yet it was through writing in that foreign language that she succeeded in developing a style that was new and uniquely hers. It featured a strong rhythm based on short sentences, diction that was never roundabout but always straightforward, and description that was apt and free of emotional baggage.