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(digital retouch with PSP)

(digital retouch with PSP)

Where have all the postings gone?

I've been a little light on the blogging here lately, but I've got a good excuse--I'm editing the crap out of my novel. Finishing this draft, I realized that I've lost touch with some of the basic skills of editing: patience, patience, and patience.

Blogging has taught me how to write quick and dirty pieces of writing, and I needed some novel help. Journalist Leo Babauta has a new blog called Write To Done, and he's talking about editing too. Here's a level-headed reminder for all writers:

"Read The Elements of Style. A concise guide to writing concisely. It’s a classic for a reason — there is no better guide to eliminating excess words."

To revive my editing instincts, I called on Lance Olsen, the author of nine novels and the Rebel Yell writing handbook. He gave me another piece of glittering, razor-sharp editing advice, reminding us to be clinical when editing: "Avoid loving your work at any cost." You can read Olsen's whole interview here.

As for postings, don't forget to tune in next Monday as Rachel Kramer Bussel stops by to discuss The Best Sex Writing of 2008.

As you can see from my scattered posting schedule this week, I have a hard time outlining my life--much less my novel.

That's why I'm always looking for more advice from writers about outlining. I usually ask all my guests for their strategies, and I comb the web for more advice. The Internets are a very distracting place for writers, and the only thing that will really help your writing improve is practical advice from real writers.

Today, The Urban Muse interviews Michelle Wildgen (an editor at Tin House), the author of You're Not You.

She breaks her novel into bite-sized pieces, not letting the idea of the whole overwhelm the initial writing process: "Figure out your overall game plan as well as you can ahead of time--for me this was not a detailed outline but a general storyline--and then think maybe not to the end of the book as you first sit down to write, but the end of the chapter."

Earlier this year, novelist Lance Olsen told me something completely different: 

"Unlike many writers, I outline vigorously before launching a novel. I simply couldn't keep the symphonic structures of the sorts of texts I produce straight without doing so...I can't speak highly enough about the rewards of outlining, but I'm also the first to admit it isn't and shouldn't be for everyone."

Don't be confused. The goal here is to keep writing and don't stop. Choose the outlining method that works best for you, and start writing tonight...

Do you like books to end with a bang, a whimper, or a punchline?

Last year the American Book Review published a list of the 100 Best First Lines from novels. According to novelist and writing teacher Lance Olsen, they are following up that list with a new collection of the 100 Best Last Lines from novels.

On his blog, Olsen mused about what makes a great last line, something all fledgling writers should read: "[L]ast lines often carry what I think of as a sort of rhythmic burden, a sort of aural crescendo that depends on the lines just before them to establish the right rise and fall, or rise and rise and rise, or ironic brake or trap door."

I love books with that end with his "rise and rise and rise," and I hunt for last sentences that will send me spinning straight for the clouds. I can think of a couple literary home runs like that, but most recently I'd add Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It ends like this: "In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery." Listen to those fabulous vowel sounds singing together, it's like the cosmic chorus singing a lullaby at the end of a symphony. 

What are your favorite last sentences? Let's make a list and send it to the American Book Review. Add yours in the comments section.

In many ways, it is a beautiful time to be a writer. 

Over at The Millions, author Buzz Poole (check out his book blog, Madonna of the Toast) just wrote an essay-long ode to the Institute for the Future of the Book. His final paragraphs offer a tantalizing look at how a truly networked book will work:

"You would be able to read the 1969 interview with Marshall McLuhan from Playboy; River of Shadows by Rebecca Solnit, Proust and Steinbeck's often overlooked In Dubious Battle; an article about James Joyce's cantankerous grandson and the ethics of copyright abuse. And as you read, you'd listen to Jeremiah Lockwood, Broken Social Scene, Amalia Rodrigues, hell, I could dump my entire music library into this thing and you could ride the shuffle the same as me. ... All of these media have influenced this piece."

In other ways, it is a hard time to be a writer. Just like the small publisher McSweeney's, Soft Skull Press has launched a big book sale--both companies are reeling from the distribution disaster of the AMS bankruptcy. Support your friendly neighborhood publisher of great writers, and keep people like Nick Mamatas in business.

Ever read William S. Burroughs hallucinogenic novel, Naked Lunch?  If so, cultural critic Davis Schneiderman wants to talk to you. He runs the Now What blog with our new friend Lance Olsen, and he's looking for ideas for an essay about how our generation looks at Burroughs book.

Publishing Spotted collects the best of what's around on writing blogs on any given day. Feel free to send tips and suggestions to your fearless editor: jason [at] thepublishingspot.com.

"It is almost impossible to write a novel any better than the best novel you've read in the three-to-six months before you began your own...Thus, you must read excellent novels regularly."

That's a bit of advice from Samuel R. Delany in the writing handbook, Rebel Yell.

That book was created by University of Utah writing professor, Lance Olsen. He's written nine novels himself, and this week he is our special guest, discussing his new book, Anxious Pleasures and sharing tips for fledgling writers.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing. 

Lance Olsen:
Well, in addition to the predictable shameless plug for my own fiction-writing guidebook, Rebel Yell, which provides lots of exercises to get the creative juices flowing, let me also suggest Brian Kiteley's 3 A. M. Epiphany, a remarkable compilation of primers. Continue reading...

"Kafka's writing will always make one feel a little foolish, a little tongue-tied. One will find oneself standing there in a kind of baffled wonder that will insist upon a slightly new mode of perceiving, a slightly new way of speaking." 

That's a passage from textual maze of Lance Olsen's new novel, Anxious Pleasures.

Lance Olsen literally wrote the book on writing, a handbook for fledgling writers called Rebel Yell. In addition, he has written nine novels and his work has appeared in scores of magazines.

This week he is our special guest, discussing his new book and sharing tips for fledgling writers.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.

Jason Boog: 
Anxious Pleasures criss-crosses, time, space, and different writing styles. How did you outline this novel? In other words, how did you plan (and keep under control) this complicated weave of text as you wrote? Any general advice for outlining and plotting novels?

Lance Olsen:
Unlike many writers, I outline vigorously before launching a novel. Continue reading...

"[His novella] is based on the odd noises emanating from the flat above him. Clumps. Scratching sounds. An almost continuous mumbling whose words the author cannot discern, no matter how diligently he concentrates. What sort of universe is happening up there? ... He rises, crosses to his desk, and draws a large X through each page of the notebook."  

That's novelist Lance Olsen imagining (in his new book, Anxious Pleasures) how Kafka might have revised his famous novella, "The Metamorphosis".

As I've been revising my own novel these last few months, I realized that I've lost touch with some of the basic skills of editing: patience, patience, and patience. Blogging has taught me how to write quick and dirty essays, pieces of writing I post without even thinking.

To revive my editing instincts, I called on Olsen, the author of nine novels and the Rebel Yell writing handbook. Anxious Pleasures is a brilliant example of revision--a polished, perfectly pitched novel. Today, Olsen shares his editing secrets.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web
 

Jason Boog: 

Could you describe the process you went through to edit Anxious Pleasures? How did you pare down that manuscript to your razor-sharp, prose that would make Kafka happy? What are the most common mistakes a writer can avoid in this stage of editing?

Lance Olsen: 

My rule of thumb during editing is simple, if cold-hearted: When in doubt, cut it out...
 

"When he was my age, Gregor’s favorite subject at the Gymnasium was geography. Isn’t that funny? He used to read Sven Hedin’s accounts of his voyages to the far corners of the earth. The cannibals in the South Pacific who during feasts spat out their enemies’ teeth onto the sand around them like cherry pits. The stringy parasites in Asia that twist across the whites of your eyes on their swim toward your thoughts."

That's an unsettling, gorgeous passage from Lance Olsen's novel, Anxious Pleasures. After writing eight books, Olsen decided to tackle one of literature's most famous stories--writing an entire book about Gregor Samsa's family and neighbors (Samsa, as you may or may not recall, is the Kafka character who mysteriously wakes up as a giant bug in the novella, "The Metamorphosis").

It's a crazy literary feat that few writers could pull off, but you can read these  excerpts in sleeping fish to see how he did it.  Luckily, Olsen literally wrote the book on creative writing in his textbook, Rebel Yell. Today he shares his three favorite bits of writing advice in my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions.

In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.

Jason Boog:
You conducted countless interviews with writers for Rebel Yell. What were the three most practical pieces of advice or writing strategies that you learned while researching your writing handbook? Who gave you each piece of advice? Continue reading...

"A bit of advice is worth repeating: don't listen for praise, but for constructive criticism, the kind that you can take home and use to better your manuscript ... [because] we all want our writing affirmed, and affirmed as quickly as possible after we've struggled weeks, months, or years with a manuscript." 

That's an excerpt from Lance Olsen's writing handbook, Rebel Yell.  His training manual for writers has become a trusted staple of professional writers and writing programs.

Lance Olsen has written nine novels and his work has appeared in scores of magazines. This week he is our special guest, discussing his new book, Anxious Pleasures and sharing tips for fledgling writers.

Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality interviews with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web publishing.

Jason Boog:

In Rebel Yell, you talk about the importance of showing your work to "your writing community" during the later stages of revision. How did you find your personal reading community? How do they help you? Any advice for writers looking to build a similar, supportive community?

Lance Olsen:

My own reading community has taken (I kid you not) the better part of thirty years to grow into its present incarnation.