The days will be getting progressively longer between now and the summer solstice. Longer days means more time, at least more daylight time. Why not use this extra daylight to start a writing habit? Here are some tips to get you started, which can be followed any time of year.
What is a fixed form narrative? It’s all about experimenting within limits by following a “formula.” Think sonnet, but for prose instead of poetry. It’s a way of writing with constraints, which can unlock creativity.
You, too, can be a productive writer. One of the tricks is to work with—rather than against—your personal traits. In other words, use your traits to develop a writing habit that works for you.
A new writing exercise for a new year. This one is all about taking it slow and was inspired by Amy Hempel. Invite a few friends to join you, and when you’re done send copies of your work to each other via snail mail, also slow!
When I temporarily relocated to Pittsburgh a few years ago, I was happy to discover a library just blocks away from the house we were subletting, a branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP), whose tagline is “Free to the People.”
“The only way to write a book, I’m fond of telling people, is to actually write a book. That’s how you write a book.”
– Anne Enright
If you’re lacking inspiration now that the days are growing shorter and darker, here are a few fairy-tale themed prompts to get you writing. These will work for poetry or prose.
Europa Editions, a publisher of international fiction, is celebrating twenty years of independent thinking. Here are five of my favorite novels from Europa, all literature in translation and two in conversation.