Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i The Writer

For the last few months, I’ve been studying The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias, a book by social psychologist Dolly Chugh. It details how to move from believing you are good to actually building a better world. My urge to build better communities is persistent lately, so I’ve been using this book to examine what I always thought I knew about myself and the systems around me. And, further, how those two go together. Understandably, these observations have played a part in my life as a volunteer in the humanitarian sector, and they’ve also bolstered my resolve to be a better advocate for diversity and accessibility in literature. But one underpinning observation in Chugh’s book has changed the way I write. She suggests that we…

Maybe you’re counting down the years (or minutes). Or maybe you can’t ever see yourself retiring. Regardless of your age and retirement timeline, now is the time to be saving for your future. Here are some of the options and resources all writers need to consider when establishing or revisiting their retirement strategy. Getting started Writer and editor Christy Karras began her career as a staff writer. “I realized early that as a writer I wouldn’t make a ton of money, so I wanted to be savvy about it,” says Karras. She contributed to her company’s 401(k) and learned about investing. The concept of compounding interest – interest earned on the initial principal and any accrued interest – blew her away. “Your money is making money on its own,” she…

PROLOGUE: THE AGE OF AGONY When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is almost certainly wrong.—ARTHUR C. CLARKE ON THE AFTERNOON OF DECEMBER 21, 1846, hundreds of men crowded into the operating theater at London’s University College Hospital, where the city’s most renowned surgeon was preparing to enthrall them with a mid-thigh amputation. As the people filed in, they were entirely unaware that they were about to witness one of the most pivotal moments in the history of medicine. The theater was filled to the rafters with medical students and curious spectators, many of whom had dragged in with them the dirt and grime of everyday life in Victorian London. The surgeon John…

Non-writers often assume authors fall into one of two categories: The Starving Artist, surviving on crumbs of bread and the passion of our prose, or the Celebrity Author, netting Stephen King- or J.K. Rowling-size royalties. Authors live in mansions or hovels. They live on pennies or in penthouses. They earn seven-figure book deals or none at all. And perhaps it is because of these two fantastical extremes that so much confusion exists surrounding the finances of publishing, even in the writing community itself. I often wince when I hear writers talk about landing a book deal like it’s winning the state lottery and not the Shirley Jackson one. Make no mistake: A book deal can and will change your life. It moves you permanently from writer to published author, and…

I cannot imagine a career but the one I have now. I work on a variety of different projects in a basement office that holds a couch, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and an easy chair. My commute from the bedroom is 25 seconds if I amble. I don’t have to squeeze myself into a pair of khakis or plead with a supervisor to get an extra 10 minutes for my lunch break. Why would I want to get a full-time writing job? Why would anyone who has spent more than a year working in slippers? In that basement office, I’m shut off from the world – and reality. I am not the primary earner; my wife is. Thanks to her job, we have terrific health insurance, a cost I can’t fathom paying…

Novelist David Guterson, author of the notable Snow Falling on Cedars, once stated, “When I went to college, I took a creative writing class and decided in a week to be a writer.” The study of creative writing at colleges and universities is a modern phenomenon – and a steadily booming one. Today, creative writing can be a heavy draw at both the undergraduate and graduate level, whether in fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. The Master of Fine Arts, or MFA, has been on the upswing for some time. According to a 2016 article in the Atlantic, in 1975 there were some 52 MFA programs in creative writing. In 2008, that number had increased to 156, reports Lit Hub – and by 2016, just eight years later, it was up…

We seldom think “beauty walk” when considering a writing conference, but just before the Chicago Spring Fling Conference – sponsored by Chicago-North’s chapter of the Romance Writers of America – novelist Elizabeth Kingston will escort interested attendees on a morning walking tour of beauty boutiques such as Sephora, while discussing skin care regimes and products. “I’m there to steer everyone away from bad decisions and make sure everyone goes home with an SPF plan,” Kingston quips. Spring Fling takes place at the Sheraton Grand Chicago downtown, surrounded by museums and architectural boat tours and shopping and restaurant districts. Pamala Knight, co-chairing the conference with Shannyn Schroeder, has put together a list of landmarks for writers to explore when they’re not participating in workshops and master classes and celebratory events. Out-of-town…

The publishing industry traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, in early September for Digital Book World (DBW), a three-day deep dive into the “wide world of publishing” and its future. And the world of publishing at DBW was indeed wide: the Big 5, libraries, indie authors, university presses, tech companies, and more were all in attendance at the event. Here are the five key takeaways that authors need to know as we move forward into a new decade in publishing. 1 Voice is on the rise… Nearly a quarter of Americans own smart speakers, according to voicebot.ai. That’s a reach of 57.8 million people, and content creators are taking note: Simon & Schuster released the “Stephen King Library,” an Alexa skill that personalizes recommendations for King novels based on how the user…

I put a lot of thought into my story proposals. Not just what they say but when to send them. For example, I never send queries on a Monday morning. I’m not sure it actually matters – after all, does an editor really read my query the same day I send it? – but I know I’m busy on a Monday, and I assume most editors are, too. Which day of the week to send the query is just one element I take into account when pitching a story idea. There are other, more tangible considerations as well. These often determine whether I make a sale, get a rejection, or have to wait another year until the window of opportunity cycles back again. Whatever the nature of the publications you’re…

The early pioneers of modern-day publishing were visionaries, eager to make a name for themselves. Around the turn of the 20th century, the New York publishing houses were born, creating the foundation for the key players we know today. In the years that followed, we saw publishing houses merge, trade paperbacks gain popularity, innovative ways to sell books emerge, and big-chain bookstores open across the world. Yet the basic publishing model, where the “big houses” ruled the business, remained until the onset of the digital age in the 1990s. The surge of new technology for printing and distributing books combined with the rising importance of the internet and the explosion of self-published books began to disrupt the system because authors no longer needed the big publishing houses to get their…

In 2002, poet Jake Adam York founded Copper Nickel at the University of Colorado Denver. He died 10 years later at age 40, and the magazine went on hiatus until poet and professor Wayne Miller relaunched it in 2014. The biannual print publication – which includes selected works on its website – features fiction and nonfiction, poetry, and writing in translation. “Translation folios distinguish us from other magazines,” Miller says, referring to the editors’ inclusion of three to five poems by a single poet and translator. “I’m frustrated when I find a single poem by a Lebanese poet in a magazine surrounded by American poets. I don’t know how to contextualize that poet because she’s writing in a totally different literary tradition, with a different national history.” Miller asks translators…

Find the perfect MFA, MA, or PhD program with our annual listing. » NEW ENGLAND BOSTON UNIVERSITY Degree type: MFA in creative writing. MFA in playwriting also available. Concentrations: Fiction and poetry. Contact: Creative Writing Program, 236 Bay State Rd., Boston, MA 02215. 617-353-2510. crwr@bu.edu bu.edu/creativewriting BROWN UNIVERSITY Degree type: MFA in literary arts. Concentrations: Fiction, poetry, digital language arts, and mixed media. Contact: Literary Arts, Brown University, Box 1923, 68.5 Brown St., Providence, RI 02912. 401-863-3260. writing@brown.edu brown.edu/academics/literary-arts GODDARD COLLEGE Degree type: Low-residency MFA in creative writing. Concentrations: Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction/memoir, dramatic writing (plays, TV, or screenplays), or graphic novel. Contact: MFA in Creative Writing Program, 123 Pitkin Rd., Plainfield, VT 05667. David De Lucca, senior admissions counselor, david.delucca@goddard.edu goddard.edu/academics/master-fine-arts-creative-writing LESLEY UNIVERSITY Degree type: Low-residency MFA in creative…

Medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris built a cult following with her blog, The Chirurgeon’s Apprentice, and her innovative YouTube series, “Under the Knife.” She creatively uses both platforms to educate and entertain her audience about various topics related to the history of medicine. Several years after starting her blog and videos, Fitzharris, an American living in England, found herself facing deportation from the U.K. when her (now-ex) husband surprised her with divorce papers. The need to generate income, coupled with her background in medical history, led Fitzharris to write a book proposal featuring the story of Dr. Joseph Lister, a British surgeon famous for his work on germ theory and the development of antiseptic surgery. The Butchering Art eventually sold for six figures, and Fitzharris was granted indefinite leave to stay…