Comments

  • When I was a graduate student working on my first book, and at a moment when I'd just realized that what I'd done was all wrong, and I was essentially going to have to s...
  • It's true that the author decides, but often the decision feels fraught. I tend to put everything I want to say in the early drafts, and then cut out what suddenly seems...
  • I had a mentor years ago, but she made such an impact on my life, I am now writing about our teacher/student relationship as a novel. Her name is Grace Nies Fletcher. Sh...
  • This discussion has arisen in a class I am teaching. Do we have to write about ourselves? one student asked. I believe that in writng practice, writing about ourselves i...
  • Hi Terrianne, Good question. I teach a lot and deal with a lot of student work which leaves me a bit tired of reading and critiquing at the end of the day. Another reaso...
  • Thanks.  I wasn't implying you should pile on every bad thing that ever happened to you.  Please check out some of the 20 essays by my students  the New York Times publi...
  • Thank you, Brooke, for saying what I've been thinking for years.  While I am deeply ensconced in the non-fiction world, both as a writer and reader (and as an MFA studen...
  • Thanks Jo Anne, I was in Paris as a college student as well. One my son's closest friends was from South Korea, so we had the unexpected chance to get to know that culture quite a bit while we were in China as well. Take good care. 
  • Looks fascinating! I spent a year in Paris as a college student, and after retirement, spent two years in South Korea. I don't think I ever thought of Paris while I was in Korea! I'd love to read your memoir and the novel when it comes out.
  • As a student, I intensely disliked history classes. As an adult, historical fiction opened the door to a whole new world. More often than not, it prompted me to do my ow...