‘You don’t try. That’s very important: “not” to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality.’ – Charles Bukowski
This summer has not been kind to my writer self.
I could blame my lack of productivity on a hundred things, but the crux of the matter has been that I’ve been too focused on the wrong things as a writer.
Continue reading “The subtle art of not trying”Advice from an exceptional writer, editor, and literary agent, with real-life examples.
Today’s Friday Five is cones courtesy of Tommy Dean, a talented writer, editor, and literary agent who shares his writing wisdom regularly via his Substack, where today’s post originally appeared. It is reprinted here today with permission.
Tommy is editor of the popular flash fiction literary magazine Fractured Lit and Uncharted, a writing coach who offers editing services and writing workshops, and an associate literary agent with Rosecliff Literary. He is the author of Hollows, a collection of flash stories, and two flash fiction chapbooks, Special Like the People on TV and Covenants. Tommy has also appeared on this blog before as the subject of an April 2024 Friday Five interview.
What I love most about this post from Tommy is how he draws from actual examples–actual novels–to support his points. This approach makes me want to dive deeper into my reading to see what other novels follow similar paths.
Continue reading “Friday Five: Tommy Dean on five ways to open any story (but especially a novel)”
Andy writes! 