Last week we used the new Harlan Coben book Plot Twist to talk about writing advice doled out by writers. Here’s what you had to say:
Amy H. wrote: “The two best books I've read are [Stephen] King's On Writing and Steve Almond's Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow. I once heard the late great Robert Parker speak and he said ‘Writers write. They mail their writing somewhere. They go back to writing.’ So, like Coben and most writers, only writing is writing, though reading is the next best thing.”
Nancy G. wrote: “My favorite writing books are William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, Writing About Your Life, really all his books. Reading his books is like sitting down with a fellow writer and talking about your work. He inspires in a gentle way.”
Saundra P. wrote: “In Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, the section on libel was very useful. I’ve often wondered how I’d handle telling the ‘truth’ without having someone’s entire posse coming for me afterward: Just disguise the person and any other identifiers, like the setting or that individual’s associates. I still think you need to cross your fingers that a sleuth doesn’t figure it out and come after you armed with prosecutors. Worse would be family or friends in tears that the honest truth about their loved one was exposed.There are risks in writing.”
See you next week!
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