Barbara Abercrombie heeft een aantal geweldige boeken over de kunst van het schrijven geschreven. Op dit moment trakteer ik me af en toe op een dag uit dit boek waarin iedere keer een andere schrijver aan het woord komt:
Het zijn vaak korte teksten, soms niet meer dan 8 regels lang. Ze dagen me uit om een ander perspectief aan te nemen en vanuit dat nieuwe gezichtspunt écht waar te nemen… Het effect is heel verfrissend!
Vragen aan de schrijfster
Q: Why a year?
A: Because if you want to write a novel or autobiography or memoir you’ll need at least a year of focused work to get from the idea in your head to the reality of a first draft. Or if you want to write short pieces a year could get you from dreaming about being a writer to actually completing and marketing one or more personal essays or short stories. I think a year is a manageable amount of time for a writer — long enough to get serious work done, yet short enough to give yourself a realistic deadline.
Q: How does your book differ from other books on creative writing?
A: There are 365 entries of anecdotes and quotes that offer inspiration and also commiseration from a lot of famous and successful writers who go through the same struggles all of us have getting our work done. I’ve always found it encouraging to read about the problems of writers I admire. It makes me feel like I’m in good company. While the book does gives you some advice about the nuts and bolts of writing and getting published, as well as weekly writing prompts, it’s more of a day book — a book to keep on your desk to dip into for a daily dose of encouragement and some company. To my knowledge there isn’t any other book out there quite like it.
Q: Who is the book for?
A: It’s for anyone who wants to write or is writing, published or not yet published. It’s for people who are writing novels or memoirs, essays or short stories or an autobiography for their families, or for those who simply want to start a journal to keep track of their life.
Q: Why do you think it’s so important for writers to read other writers?
A: Because they’re the reason we wanted to become writers in the first place. Reading good writing fuels and informs our own writing. We can’t write in a vacuum. Many of us, when we were kids, were told to put that book down and do our homework or go outside. But when we’re writers, reading is our homework! It’s one of the perks of being a writer. I always tell my students that their best teachers are their favorite writers.
Q: What is it that you hope a reader will take away from the book?
A: That it’s important to write our stories, no matter how hard it might be. No one can tell your story the way you can. And each story is unique and precious and needs to be told. Also that when you write you’re part of a whole community of writers. You’ll learn everything you need to know about writing from your favorite writers.
Geef een reactie