I've just finished a two day course on creative writing which I thoroughly enjoyed. There was a little bit of hokey reading aloud what you had just written (yikes!), but I managed to get some good writing done. It was actually a bit of a test balloon to see whether this is something I will dedicate myself to more this year. I figured if I could give up two consecutive Sundays without too much of a fight, then I was ready. So that's nice.
During my nascent writing yearnings - writing for fun, that is - I've found this book, Bird by Bird incredibly helpful - it was recommended to me by Loobylu (thank you!). The author, Anne Lamott, does a lovely job of being self-deprecating and inspiring at the same time, which is a tough gig.
The wonderful interview above with Elizabeth Gilbert is also very much worth a look - I haven't read Eat Pray Love, but she is articulate, wise and funny. And incredibly worthwhile for anyone who struggles to conjure up paragraphs in any context.
In the same vein, I was thrilled to find some literary house voyeurism. Mmm. Have a look inside the rooms of Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor, among others, here.
By the way, if you're reading this in an aggregator like Google Reader or Bloglines, I have added a sidebar to my blog with the books I'm reading, and a new favourite Bookworm podcast each week or so. This one is with the late David Foster Wallace, and is a heartwrenching reminder that brilliance is fleeting but beautiful.
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete