Thinking (still) about the spider this week—how every day she rebuilds her web—and how my writing students do the same. Often, they’d like their work to be written more quickly—even though the process requires a more gradual approach. They tell me they have a series in mind or that they’re looking at publishers or self-publishing. This, often before they have a basic story on the page. A spider can't weave the inside before setting anchor lines for the outer framework. She bu

A writer friend sent me an essay from the New York Time’s Modern Love column. The topic was devastating, yet I didn’t feel the emotions that I should have from such a tragic personal story—and neither did she. She asked me whether I thought it was because the author was telling her story rather than having the reader experience it for themselves. After I read the piece I agreed that it was exactly for that reason that the essay fell flat. There was so much the author could’

I’m in Week 5 of teaching my The Unbearable Lightness of Novel Writing course and we’re talking about giving and receiving constructive feedback. This is easier said than done—you want to help a writer move forward with their project without stifling them with criticism. As the person receiving feedback, you want clear guidance on how to strengthen your work, not just a list of what’s wrong. I like this quote by Anne Lamott who says “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppresso