Author Central

Category: On writing

  • 7 Ways to Start a Story

    7 Ways to Start a Story

    There are many ways to start a story. Here are 7 great ones: When you’re telling a friend a story, you rarely begin with, “I was born in such-and-such hospital in such-and-such city.” Rather, you jump forward to the exciting part, the middle of the action of your own life. “I was standing in front…

  • Ezra Pound on Writing: The Artist is Always Beginning

    Poet, critic, and translator Ezra Pound has a lot to teach us about writing. Best known for “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” that freshman lit staple, Pound also gave us a slew of smart, insightful essays on the craft of writing. It was Pound who wrote, The artist is always beginning. Any work…

  • Q&A: First draft vs. final draft

    What are the differences between the first draft and the final draft of a story or novel? The first draft contains everything you wanted to say. The final draft contains what is essential to the story. The first draft is likely to have more abstractions, while the final draft should be brimming with significant detail.…

  • How to Become a Better Writer

    Read widely and well. Observe the world around you, and listen. Get outside of yourself. Don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Find a trusted reader to give you feedback on your work.

  • The Working Writer

    Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite writers. Not only because he wrote one of the most memorable passages about a place I’ve ever read, but because his work ethic was formidable. He went in not for glamor and preciousness, but rather for “hard, constant labor.”