The Writer December 2016

I knew I’d start writing for a living straight out of college. I imagined I’d wake each day – never before 7 a.m., mind you – and pad out to my home office in my silken pajamas. Perhaps a motivational songbird would flutter in and land on my shoulder; perhaps a pair of well-meaning mice would fetch my coffee. The words would pour from my fingers, settling just so on the page with nary a need for revision. I’d finish by noon, and my editors would fall at my feet: Such prose! they’d cry. Such wit! Such wisdom! Why, of course we’ll send a writer of your caliber to Mallorca! To Crete! Tokyo! George Clooney’s dressing room! Never-ever would I hear a harsh word about my work. Never-ever would I…

When I met my first students 41 years ago, I knew zip about how to teach; I really shouldn’t have been hired. At the beginning, I told my class of high-schoolers to “go home and write.” This proved to be about as helpful as asking a toddler to bake a chocolate soufflé. Then, on a whim, I gave them all the same prompt. This produced valuable results. They asked for more prompts, exercises that highlighted specific elements of fiction. So the first lesson I learned as a teacher was that when you tackle a new skill, you want and need structure. This is just like practicing doing scales when mastering a musical instrument: It’s not fun, but it helps get you there. Strong, fresh writing means taking 26 letters and…

Growing up, Daniel Palmer knew that his home life was different from other kids. His father was Michael Palmer, the New York Times bestselling author of numerous medical thrillers. “Perhaps the biggest difference in my house from non-writerly homes was the dinner conversation. We’d talk about what would make for an exciting death scene, or how the protagonist might escape the clutches of some villain, or possible plot twists. I knew what a ‘McGuffin’ was before I could divide fractions. We were always talking story, and my dad never dismissed my ideas or those of my brother even though were just kids,” he says. “Despite all that writer talk, I never thought about becoming a writer myself. Maybe that’s because my dad was eager to share all facets of the…

—Allison Futterman is a freelance writer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. CAREER CHOPS Will a creative writing education increase my chances of publication? The debate over whether an MA, MFA, or PhD in creative writing will better your chances of success in the world of publishing or simply leave you saddled with debt shows no sign of abating. With over 20,000 students applying to study creative writing in U.S. universities at a revenue of $200 million*, there is little doubt that the higher education of writing is big business. But will it benefit you? The short answer, as ever, is: It depends. If your ultimate goal is to have a career in professional writing or to teach at a college level and you have the means, then it’s a sound…

UCR Low-Residency MFA Our Philosophy When the Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing & Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside was founded, it was with the simple guiding philosophy that we would provide a real-world emphasis on publication and production. What that means in a tangible sense is easy: we teach our students about the real world, about where their work fits on the shelf, on the stage, and on the screen. And then we put each student to the test: each of our graduates has his or her work read by top agents and managers, New York and independent publishers, major motion picture studio producers and development executives, and industry professionals. Within the last five years, over 75% of our graduates have gone onto sell,…

Writers have varied reasons for working with a co-author. Perhaps you have a slam-dunk idea for a self-help volume but lack experience with the topic. Maybe your friend or acquaintance has a stellar story but little to no writing chops. Or perhaps you just work better in a team. In the last decade, I’ve published four solo books and four with three different partners. It’s been an enjoyable ride, and I’ve found many benefits to writing as a duo. I don’t have to shoulder the load of creating, editing, and promoting the book alone. Often, another set of eyes makes the finished product much better, contributing further creativity and depth to the work. Pam Farrell has worked with a co-author on many of her 45 titles. She notes, “Books that…