JOANNA ELM, Author, Journalist, Attorney
The Pleasures and Perils Of A Writing Life
I’m talking about YOU, the must-see TV series, now on Netflix, and YOU the novel by Caroline Kepnes on which it’s based. Pick one. Better still, pick both.
The writing in the novel, published in 2014, is witty, smart and provides the sort of biting social commentary that we saw in the fabulous Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Coincidentally –or maybe not — Flynn and Kepnes both used to write for Entertainment Weekly. Continue reading “Are You Into YOU? Here’s Why You Should Be”
I came across this rather graphic quote from Truman Capote the other day: “Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.”
Given Capote’s eccentric personality and oft-times dark humor, I wasn’t quite sure whether he meant he was ecstatic when he finished writing a book, or totally despondent. Continue reading “Sometimes, An Author Has To Take A Break”
Most writers want to write. They don’t like interruptions to their writing routines. However painful it is to sit in front of a laptop or computer staring at a blank screen, it is more painful NOT to be sitting in front of your laptop. It is especially painful when you can’t stick to your writing routine because, yes, for sure, that is precisely the time when you feel you would be doing your best work.
If you’re a writer, you know where I’m heading with this because the season is upon us, and the big question becomes : How to keep writing without upsetting family and friends during the five to six weeks from Thanksgiving through Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas and New Year’s Eve? Continue reading “The Trouble With Holidays If You’re A Writer (Or Live With One)”
It’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done– this week: The Language Rules We All Know But Don’t Know We Know
I came across an English language rule (actually two of them) this week that I had never learned in more than 60 years of studying and using the language. The information came to me courtesy of my brother Michael in Prague. He sent me a link to a story that appeared in BBC Magazine last year about a tweet that went viral from BBC Culture editor (@MattAndersonBBC) who copied a paragraph from a book titled The Elements of Eloquence. Continue reading “News Squib: Language Rules: Why You Are A Silly Old Fool & Not An Old Silly Fool?”