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How Writers Can Find Meaning in Nonsense
The author Jesse Ball discusses Lewis Carroll's ‘Jabberwocky’ and how precise prose doesn’t always make for powerful work.
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Doug McLean How Writing Achieves Grace
The author Mary-Beth Hughes discusses how Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel The Blue Flower showed her that words can dance.
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When Writers Put Themselves Into the Story
Joshua Cohen, the author of Book of Numbers, discusses Dostoyevsky’s The Double, in which the author becomes a presence in the novella.
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Doug McLean To Write a Great Essay, Think and Care Deeply
The nonfiction writer Lucas Mann offers advice for essayists worried about whether they have anything interesting to say.
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Writing Is the Process of Abandoning the Familiar
The novelist and editor Anna North discusses the Odyssey’s timeless lesson about leaving the comforts of home.
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Doug McLean Writing Should Be a Continued Exploration
Mark Z. Danielewski discusses how the interplay of words and images can open up new ways of perceiving both literature and the world.
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Writers Should Look for What Others Don't See
The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic discusses the importance of noticing hidden truths—from the horrors of war to the mundane aspects of daily life.
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Karl Ove Knausgaard on the Power of Brevity
The Norwegian author, known for the multivolume autobiography My Struggle, finds inspiration in the restraint of the tale of Cain and Abel.
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How Writers Can Grow by Pretending to Be Other People
The author and editor Kate Bolick found that "imaginary time-traveling"—projecting herself into the life of someone else—helped her feel closer to women she admired.
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Doug McLean How T.C. Boyle Finds His Endings
The author of The Harder They Come adheres to an organic, spontaneous finale-writing process ruled only by his desire to leave readers with room for interpretation.
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Doug McLean Laura Marling on Why Writers Should Look Back for Inspiration
The English folk singer-songwriter reveals how an appreciation for humanity's history has informed her art.
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Doug McLean What Writers Can Gain From Seeing the World Through Different Eyes
The author Tania James shares a lesson she gleaned from a book about a poacher: The best prose comes from experimenting with new perspectives.
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Doug McLean What Writing Has in Common With Happiness
The author Yasmina Reza says that Borges taught her fiction, like joy, is borne of mysterious, instinctual processes achieved in an unconscious state.
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Doug McLean The Fine Art of Ambiguous Writing
The author Reif Larsen says Joseph Conrad and Anselm Kiefer taught him how to practice omission without infuriating his readers.
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Doug McLean How Writing Fiction Masters Fear
When novelist Harriet Lane received a serious diagnosis, she started telling stories that let her meet anxiety on her own terms.
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Doug McLean With Writing, Opportunity Comes From Small Moments
Author Katherine Heiny describes how the best details in fiction can be ripped from small talk and eavesdropped conversations on the bus.
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Doug McLean Scott McCloud on the Secret of Humor
The writer draws inspiration from Art Spiegelman's Breakdowns, "a toolkit to think about humor using comics."
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Doug McLean With Language, Seeking Out the Sublime
Writer Thomas Pierce finds inspiration in the concise beauty of Theodore Roethke's notebooks.
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Doug McLean Mark Ronson on How Fiction Inspired Uptown Special
The songwriter-producer collaborated with author Michael Chabon on his new album.
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Shakespeare: One of the First and Greatest Psychologists
Steven Pinker finds insight into the frailty of human nature within Measure for Measure.
