The days are still bright and hot throughout much of the country, but September and current events around the world have us in a darker, more contemplative mood. Sometimes, the biggest gift of stories is the opportunity to escape reality for a little while.
We considered discontinuing our use of gifs for Friday Feasts in favor of more traditional, stoic writerly images. But like great stories and tacos, they serve a purpose. They offer a laugh when we need a laugh. Here’s to that and to all of the stories, no matter what form they take.
- Maybe a schedule isn’t for you. Maybe you can’t write every day. In this thoughtful post, Daniel José Older considers how writers should find their own flow when it comes to the most common piece of writing advice: write every single day.
- Emily St. John Mandel on “working the double shift,” that balance between writing literary fiction and paying the rent: “So we all come home tired from our days at the office, sit down in front of the blinking cursors on our screens, and allow ourselves to daydream for a moment about being struck by commercial lightning: a film deal, a surprise bestseller, a call from the organizer of Oprah’s book club. We’re all perfectly aware that it will likely never happen. We all keep writing anyway.”
- An incredible story of how one book changed Dwayne Betts’s life, even in prison. And resources for those who wish to donate their books to prisons.
- If you’ve ever found yourself in the defensive position, calmly stating to your beta reader or any old reader, “Yes, it could really happen, because it did really happen,” then check out these tips from Katrin Schumann on some things to watch out for when you’re writing fiction based on true events.
- Julianna Baggott offers one rule and 12 tips for writers and their friends and their families. Our favorite: “If the writer weren’t a writer but instead owned a taco truck parked nearby, would you feel weird never having stopped by to eat there? Two taco platters and two drinks cost about the same as a book. Buy your friend’s book.”