Essays on Writing Craft and Mindset
by Maggie Frank-Hsu
Book writing lesson from a poet
I heard Margaret Atwood (both a novelist and a poet) on the New Yorker’s poetry podcast with Kevin Young. She said: “Novelists look as if they’re working. They are working. Poets, when they’re working, don’t look as if they’re working.
Can you answer this question about your book?
I give a presentation called “The 5 Things You Need to Start (and Finish!) Your Book.” Thing #1: You need an answer to this question: Why does this book need to exist? I do worry that telling people this off the bat will discourage them. It sounds like an intimidating question.
Excavating every little thing you love for your readers
Alright, I just started Rivka Galchen’s new book, Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch. As I’m reading, I’m noticing Rivka Galchen clearly loves her main character—the mother—to pieces.
Artists are MADE, not BORN
Do you think you suck at writing? Periodically when I work with a client, before we can really get going, first we have to talk about all the reasons they can’t write a book. Usually one of the reasons is that someone told them they suck at writing.
Reader question: How do I process feedback about my writing?
Reader question! Reader question! I got a reader question about how to process feedback. I’ve written before about receiving feedback. My advice was “don’t.” 🤣🤣 Seriously. 😐Don’t. People can lob their feedback over the fence.
Facing and conquering fear in your writing practice... again and again
Some people get their bolt of inspiration in the shower or on a walk. I get all mine on the stationary bike. I’ll be pedaling in the garage, huffing and puffing, AND BOOM. hear Van Wilder’s voice from that that terrible, awful National Lampoon movie from the early 2000s that I’ve seen a dozen times,
Give up what's sapping energy from your life and make time to write
I don’t try to shrink my body anymore. That doesn’t mean I never think negatively about my body or my eating habits. I do sometimes. But I haven’t been on a diet (AKA a wellness kick / lifestyle upgrade / juice and/or intermittent fast / “eliminating calories because of my calorie sensitivity” / etc.) in years.
Find a safe place to allow your writing to unravel
Happy… this thing! Happy six day of 2022. We are all still doing it. I’m so grateful you’re here with me. I’m so grateful I’m here with you. *** I took some fraught time off at the end of the year, full of omicron news and uncertainty and joy and even, in the end, a ski trip.
What makes a book a book and why you can't just turn all of your blog posts into a book
“Can I just take all my blog posts from the past three years and turn them into a book?” Sounds like it would be a pretty easy way to write a book, right?
What is the difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing?
Every single client I have ever worked with has asked me about the difference between “traditional” publishing and self-publishing. Traditional publishing: A publishing house signs you and pays you an advance, or an advance plus royalties, to write your book. Self-publishing: you publish the book yourself using tools that have become widely available just in the past few years!