writing community – Page 70

John Updike (and others) on why fiction matters

Thoughts on “the subtlest instrument for self-examination … that mankind has invented yet”

My town’s public library held a used-book sale recently, and among the armful of treasures I picked up there was The Writer’s Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing, Volume II. I’m a sucker for books about the writing craft, even if they’re nearly 40 years old (this one was published in 1988) and especially if they’re in reasonably good shape and only cost 50 cents. Shut up and take my money, I say.

Real creative effort: a copywriter’s perspective

Yeah, most of what I post about here pertains to the so-called “creative” writing arts — the short story, novel, novella, poem, etc. But I cut my teeth in journalism, then public relations and marketing, and some of the best lessons I’ve learned about writing and creativity have come from those fields and from great copywriters like Andrew Boulton, the author of Copywriting Is…, which is a great resource for anyone who writes promotional or ad copy. Boulton is also a frequent poster on LinkedIn (worth a follow), where he recently posted this gem about the source of “real creative effort.”

How are you directing your creative effort?