Since the Paris Review put all their author interviews online, there’s no reason for a writer to ever be bored. I love reading interviews at night, before sliding off to Dreamville. The other night before going to sleep, I read this interview with Haruki Murakami. If you’ve never read a Murakami novel, the best way […]
The Timing of it All
On Monday, I wrote about how all stories have — in many ways — been told before. While that should never stop a writer from writing the story they want to tell, it’s not the only obstacle we face as writers. Sometimes the timing of things can send a writer into a wall. Two Months […]
Writing the Same Story
It’s bound to happen: as you work on a story, you read or see something very similar to what you’re doing. Sometimes, so similar, you might even consider stopping. It happened to me recently, while reading The Night Circus (affiliate link). Not that I even remotely considered stopping work on A Magic Life, but I […]
Self Promotion for Writers
Hi, my name is Christopher Gronlund and I have a confession: I am not at my best when it comes to online self promotion. In person, sure! I’ll get up and speak before a large group, approach any agent or editor, or give my time to people who have read what I’ve written. All with […]
The Things Not Said
Last night, I watched Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater. I thought about writing a post about things known writers can do with direct distribution, but changed my mind as I sat down to write this. (If you’re not familiar with Live at the Beacon Theater, Louis CK funded the production himself, edited the […]
What Do Italian Fig Cookies Have To Do With Writing?
This time of the year, Italians make fig cookies. Most fig cookies I’ve seen are cucidati, similar enough in shape to a Fig Newton, but with a totally different dough and frosted. [A quick aside: there’s really no comparison between Fig Newtons and Italian Fig cookies. While I’ve liked Fig Newtons since childhood, the filling […]
Evernote for Writers
I’m a big fan of Evernote. If you’re not familiar with Evernote, check out this video and then wander to my Evernote for Writers page for a more detailed tutorial. If you’re familiar with Evernote, but have never really used it for writing research, check out the video for some tips, and check out the […]
Learning about Writing from Artists
Moonshine : Artists after dark from alexis wanneroy on Vimeo. I’ve mentioned several times on The Juggling Writer that I learn a lot from artists. (My favorite book about creativity is still Chuck Jones’s Chuck Amuck.) If you write and take nothing away from this six and a half minute mini documentary, I’m not sure […]
All Writing Looks the Same
Readers liked the last video I did for The Juggling Writer, so here’s another — this time, about how all writing, physically, looks relatively the same. When you think about it, there’s not much difference in the look of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Snooki’s A Shore Thing…but they are definitely different books! […]
A Change in Writing Plans?
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;” — Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” I ended up doing more day job writing this weekend than […]
Bending the Rules of Research
Wednesday, I wrote about a problem some writers have when researching things. Like so many behind-the-scenes things about writing, all the effort that goes into writing a novel should be transparent to the reader. I did quite a bit of research for my latest novel, Promise (sneak peek, here), but most of what I learned […]
A Problem With Writing Research
“A man will turn over half a library to make one book.” – Samuel Johnson I like making up most of what I write. Where possible, everything comes from my head. When I have to research, I try to spend the least bit of time researching and focus on the story I want to tell. […]
How I Take Notes
I’m a huge fan of notebooks. It’s a rare moment that I’m more than 20 feet away from a 5″ x 7″ Mead notebook. For those times I am without a notebook, I have my iPhone. As big a fan of being able to catch thoughts as they come to me, I don’t have a […]
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