Sunday Read: How to Write a Book in 30 Days – Lionel Shriver Shares Her Writing Process
Lionel Shriver, author of the Orange prize-winning We Need to Talk About Kevin and others such as The New Republic and The Post-Birthday World, has shared her writing process with The Guardian. The Guardian Books series “How to Write a Book in 30 Days” also includes posts by Ian Rankin and Maggie O’Farrell.
Since this leads up nicely to NaNoWriMo, a global writing initiative started in the US, insights into Shriver’s writing world, and that of other well-known authors, should be of invaluable use. Not everyone would have been lucky enough to have received a copy of the 32-page writing supplement the paper published yesterday, but these posts could prove useful as a push in the right direction.
Start with large, strong coffee. Read paper, doesn’t much matter which one. Concentrate on little stories. Dostoevsky snatched scads of ideas from newspapers. Self could not make this stuff up, so why bother?
Repair to desk. Prefer standing – keeps Self awake. Recommend giant OED flipped on side for elevating laptop to proper height. Remember in ancient times email (incredibly) considered exciting and fun, but now email is evil foe. Even once crap cleared off, what remains? People nagging Self to do things Self does not want to do. SAY NO TO EVERYTHING. A sucker for badgering, Self will fail in this ambition, but never hurts to try. Dispatch queue with alacrity, and DO NOT CONSULT AGAIN. Self will fail in this ambition, but never hurts to try.
Book details
- We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
EAN: 9781846688065
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- The New Republic by Lionel Shriver
EAN: 9780007459803
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- So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
EAN: 9780007271085
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- A Perfectly Good Family by Lionel Shriver
EAN: 9780061239496
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- The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
EAN: 9780061187841
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Apr
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