writing groups
"I've come to feel that creative writing programs are havens for people who like to read."
— Charles Baxter
for Creatives | reading, writing groups, Charles Baxter, formal arts education, writing workshops
"Read everything but write on your own. And if you have a mentor, learn what you can then run like hell."
— Dorthe Nors
for Creatives | reading, creative process, writing, solitude of creating, writing groups, Dorthe Nors
"I wish all writers realized that agents, publishers, book doctors, vanity presses, and how-to seminars, have a cost attached to them—sometimes a very high cost—with zero guarantees. You can be a writer, and have writer be a part of your identity, without any of them."
— J.A. Konrath
for Creatives | J.A. Konrath, the successful artist, writing, solitude of creating, publishing, writing groups, editors, agents
"Dubus frowns on writers' groups, believing they lead members astray from the work at hand. His father told him that a novelist is like a whale submerged in the ocean. You're down there alone, and you're supposed to be down there alone. 'It makes us face our own mortality,' he says. 'Working alone on a 300-to-400-page project for five years all by yourself brings you right to the starkness of coming into the world alone and leaving alone, as we all do.'"
— Robert G. Pushkar
for Creatives | Andre Dubus III, novel writing, writing, solitude of creating, Robert G. Pushkar, writing groups