📖 MEA book crawl, what librarians would do with 10K
Novelists on the craft of writing
Writing is hard. Here are 3 guides I love
So, you want to write a novel? Lucky for you, some of our bestselling novelists are generous with their advice and tricks of the trade.
Here are three of my favorite writing guides by writers themselves.
Stephen King’s “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft” is close at hand on my own bookshelf and sometimes, when I’m working on a script for a Talking Volumes, I’ll pull it down, thumb through it again and let it inspire me with new questions for an author.
Harlan Coben, the wildly successful thriller writer, is out with a new guide called “Plot Twist: A Memoir of a Writing Life” for would-be novelists and it’s full of practical, self-described “non-sexy” advice.
Here’s how he summed the book up in the New York Times: “Just get it down. Turn off the part of your brain that’s telling you it sucks. You can let it paralyze you or you can let it fuel you.”
Next week? Three guides for readers on reading well.
— Kerri Miller, MPR News
Talking Volumes is back!
Hosted byaward-winning MPR News journalists Kerri Miller and Catharine Richert, each evening offers an in-depth conversation with an author about their latest books, their creative process and the stories shaping our lives.
Email sstroozas@mpr.org to have your literary event added to the list.
🤔 What's the newsroom reading?
Stuck in his small Washington, D.C., townhouse during the COVID-19 epidemic, journalist Christopher Vondracek felt homesick for the landscapes of his native South Dakota.
On his laptop each night, he began scrolling through the paintings of Terry Redlin, a fellow South Dakotan whose work lovingly captures the waterfowl, lakes and fields Vondracek remembered from his rural childhood.
The notes he took those evenings on Redlin’s art and its appeal in a time of pandemic formed the core of his new book, “Redlin or Rodin: Essays on Midwestern Scenery.”
While art critics often dismiss Redlin’s work, Vondracek, a Minnesota Star Tribune Washington correspondent, felt a kinship to the artist and the tranquil rural scenes he painted.
“That dude was more observant than I was!” Vondracek said Monday during a wide-ranging talk at Magers & Quinn Booksellers in Minneapolis. “There was this high-low culture thing, but Redlin was embracing the land in a way that I hadn’t.”
Beyond the art, the slim book touches on small town life and the politicization of Redlin’s paintings.
Vondracek said when his Redlin musings evolved into a series of essays, he was aiming for a “Great Gatsby” length of fewer than 50,000 words. His first draft came in much longer. (As someone who has edited Vondracek’s beautifully written stories, why am I not surprised?)
He said he pared it down to 57,000 after he was told, “No one will read 90,000 words on Redlin.”
Vondracek’s favorite Redlin? “Evening Surprise.”
— Laura McCallum, editor.
Photo courtesy of Terry Redlin and the Redlin Art Center
The New York Times spoke with dozens of librarians across the country for the 150th birthday of the modern American library. Shawna Dees, a librarian for Roseville Area Schools, said if her library saw an increase in funding the first thing she would do overhaul the nonfiction section.
Min Jin Lee had a global bestseller with her novel, “Pachinko.” Now she’s back with a story about ambition, disillusion, family and purpose. She joined Kerri Miller at Talking Volumes to talk about her new novel, “American Hagwon” — and so much more.
A novel about “Death” finding connection with the family across the hall is this week’s recommendation from Amy Erickson of Bluebird Books in Detroit Lakes.
Krista Wax sits down with Stephanie Hansen and Kurt Johnson to discuss their collaborative book, "The Moon Tavern" and about writing a love story intertwined with recipes.
