Among Friends is “a history of an industry transformed by consolidation and shifting tastes.” I have been part of that industry since 1968, when my first book, Things That Sometimes Happen, was accepted for publication.
If people cannot be taught or experience how to express their feelings, frustrations, and conflicts with words, they will find ways—destructive ways—to express their emotions.
Here’s a mordant question. What happens to a writer’s work when she/he passes on?
You may not know it but there is such a thing as the “Golden Ratio,” which suggests the best way to create a written page layout.
There are many skills that professional writers have to master. But one of the skills a writer must master is one that I don’t think is often mentioned: waiting.
Molly wrote to ask, “You said somewhere that you revise your books eighty or more times. Is that true? Why do you do that? Do I have to do that?”
If you think as I do, that the physical book can be a form of art, then typography … is vital to the art of bookmaking.
Too often we talk about writing as if it is self-expression, dealing with our own demons or delights. No doubt that is part of it.
There are so many reasons (or emotions) for choosing what to write. It’s a vital choice.
I had worked on the book for at least a year, working on it every day, sometimes for hours, sometimes just for minutes, but always and always.