Over at the Story Prize blog, Year in Reading alumnus Colum McCann shares a letter of advice to writers starting their career. As he puts it, “A story begins long before its first word. It ends long after its last… [it] reveal[s] a truth that isn’t yet there.”
Letters to a Young Writer
History as Memoir, Memoir as History
It’s impossible to deny that memoir writing is having a bit of a moment, as more and more major books delve deeply into authors’ lives for material (here’s looking at you, Knausgaard). But what happens when memoir meets straight history? According to The Canadian Press, both genres only become more interesting. “[People] think non-fiction is just boring, fuddy-duddy history books, [but] if you look at Canadian literature right now, non-fiction is incredibly exciting.”
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Someone Should Try This on Jeopardy
No wonder trivia night at the local bar is such a hit. A new study finds that “drinkers got more test questions right and were quicker in delivering the right answers” after they’d had a few beforehand.
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More on Banville
Yesterday I pointed out that John Banville wrote a new Philip Marlowe novel under the pen name Benjamin Black. If you’re a fan of Banville — and you live in LA — you can hear him talk about the book this Thursday at Sundance Cinemas.
$200,000? Who Said Publishing’s On the Outs?
Aspiring novelists, take note: when you get a $200,000 advance for one of your books, don’t buy any clothes.
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The Economist and the Poet
The Economist has a nice interview with Farrar, Straus & Giroux publisher Jonathan Galassi. In it, he discusses the role of poetry in modern society, and how it’s still “something people perversely do.”
Howard?
“Writing on a computer can be terribly distracting, so sometimes I like to use a pencil and paper to jot down ideas. I always end up drawing a cartoon duck. Inevitably, the duck is holding a notepad, and I can read the ideas that he wrote down.” At Clickhole, six writers explain how they overcome writer’s block.
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