writing life

The author of five poetry collections, most recently frank: sonnets, meditates on the idea of order and revisits her past to consider how shaping a book is like forging and acknowledging a self.  

With daily life so affected by the pandemic, the author and playwright offers suggestions for staying creative such as writing letters, trying a short form, and letting yourself take a break.

The author presents his theory of the writing life as a “toilsome, magical, unpredictable road,” and illustrates the hurdles an ambitious writer might encounter.

The author finds solace in rereading George Saunders’s novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, while mourning the death of her father during the pandemic.

The executive director of National Novel Writing Month reflects on a quote from dancer Martha Graham, and how her acceptance of “divine dissatisfaction” can be applied to the writing life.

The author examines thirteen common instances of writer’s block—or what she calls “the studious avoidance of writing”—and offers practical fixes for each.