novel writing – Andrew Careaga

Friday Five: writer and Major 7th editor Kirsti MacKenzie

‘Innovating within structure is the great genius pop artists have in common.’

Content warning: interview contains language some readers may find offensive.

“There’s a specific kind of masochism in picking an industry built on rejection,” says Viv, one of the main characters in Kirsti MacKenzie‘s debut novel Better to Beg (Sweet Trash Press, November 2025). It sounds like something a writer might say as they hope against hope that their works will be picked up by literary magazines or agents in their quest for a bit of fame, if not fortune.

Kirsti MacKenzie

Viv and her partner in music, the British expat Hux, are also on a quest for fame. The two form the fictional indie band The Deserters, and they are riding the crest of underground popularity, thanks to music bloggers and file-sharing services. They embark on a cross-country rock’n’roll/road trip fueled by enough dope to make Hunter S. Thompson consider rehab. Learn more about the novel and Kirsti in this excellent interview on X-R-A-Y Literary Magazine.

A writer from northern Ontario, Kirsti also creates superb short fiction (see this page for four years’ worth of stories) and is the founder and editor of Major 7th Magazine, a literary mixtape composed of short pieces related to specific songs. Read on for more about that litmag, Kirsti’s debut novel, and her thoughts on writing.

No more NaNoWriMo? No problem! Write that novel anyway

Introducing a new Substack to help you draft your novel in November

Even though the annual November writeathon known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is no longer a thing,* you can still get started on that novel in November. A new Substack is here to help you out.

Introducing First Draft November, a new writing challenge for aspiring novelists.

Friday Five: Tommy Dean on five ways to open any story (but especially a novel)

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 Dean

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.

Friday Five: Q&A with ‘Aristotle for Novelists’ author Douglas Vigliotti

‘… being “unbelievable” is not a good thing.’

What can we learn about writing a novel from an ancient Greek philosopher who never wrote a novel himself? Plenty, if that ancient Greek philosopher is Aristotle, according to author and podcaster Douglas Vigliotti.

In his latest book, Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story, Vigliotti draws from Aristotle’s Poetics to provide a framework for storytelling in the modern age.

“For centuries, dramatic writers have relied on Aristotelian principles to write their stories for the screen and stage — the same stories you stream and watch today,” Vigliotti writes. “But for the first time ever, the timeless principles from Aristotle’s esteemed Poetics have been adapted for novelists.”

In this Q&A, Vigliotti shares what inspired him to delve into Aristotle’s writings, discusses how these principles can benefit novelists (and other writers), and talks a bit about his podcast, Books for Men.

An update on my November novels in progress

If writing a novel is like driving a car at night, somewhere along the line last month I drove my car into the ditch.

As I mentioned earlier on this website, I’d intended to write more and blog less in November so that I could focus on getting started on two novels. Mission accomplished on both counts.

But…