“I am, after all, not just the novel’s creator but its first reader. And if I’m not able to guess with any accuracy how the damned thing is going to turn out… I can be pretty sure of keeping the reader in a state of page-turning anxiety.” — Stephen King in On Writing
Writing Friends
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau called himself a “self-appointed inspector of snow-storms and rain-storms.” I hope every member of Tuesdays with Story got in a little inspection time this week, even as Madison’s first-of-the-season blizzard kept Second-and-Fourth members from meeting on December 8. On Wednesday, Millie Mader e-mailed me: “It’s not only a good writing day, but my Dish Network is out!”
’Tis the season for writing, here and now in Madison. The snow is our ally. Imagine: You could be trying to do this difficult thing while sitting on some wave-lapped, sub-tropical beach, under the sun’s relentless roasting as gritty grains of scorched sand work their way into the tight places between your winter-cramped toes.
The Bard got it right, too: (more…)
Tuesdays with Story 