Do you have a project that confuses you, or feels dangerous? In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, novelist Mark Wisniewski discusses three things he’s learned about writing that he wishes he’d been taught. One of those things? How to search your gut-sense for your “one big story.” He writes:
This is not the story of your life. This is not your version of the best-selling novel everyone’s talking about. This is that one tangle of somewhat imagined, somewhat overheard, somewhat experienced events your spirit relates to with authority. Of all the stories you could tell, it’s the weird one. The one whose emotional terrain can bring you to tears. The one that keeps you awake at night scared that maybe, if it were published under your name, so-and-so might get upset and speak ill of you.
Click here to read his entire essay over at Glimmer Train.
For more insights into the writing life:
- The Fog of Creation by Nellie Herman
- In Search of Art by Julia Strayer
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
[…] – Mark Wisniewski, source […]