“The novel is about five students of classics who are studying with a classics professor, and they take the ideas of the things that they're learning from him a bit too seriously, with terrible consequences.” IdeasLiteratureBitsNovelStudyFiveStudentsTerribleConsequenceProfessors Author:Donna Tartt
“The age of the book is not over. No way... But maybe the age of some books is over. People say to me sometimes 'Steve, are you ever going to write a straight novel, a serious novel' and by that they mean a novel about college professors who are having impotence problems or something like that. And I have to say those things just don't interest me. Why? I don't know. But it took me about twenty years to get over that question, and not be kind of ashamed about what I do, of the books I write.” PeopleKnowsWayWritingYearsKindMeanBookSometimesProblemAgeInterestNovelCollegeSeriousTwentiesAshamedBe KindProfessorsGet OverImpotenceCollege Professors Author:Stephen King
“A year after I'd graduated college, I went to a weeklong conference intensive in Boston, and that's when things kicked into high gear. My workshop leader was a Harvard professor and editor. At the end of the week we met one-on-one over breakfast, and she said, in essence, "Look, you're ready to turn pro." She gave me a list of literary agents to query once I had something to show them. I came home and wrote my first real novel, and the agent that sold it to Tor Books was on that list.” YearsFirstsLooksSaidBookRealEndsShowsHomeTurnsLeaderNovelWeekCollegeReadyMetsEssenceListsAgentsBreakfastEditorsProfessorsConferencesBostonHarvardGearsWorkshopsOne On OneQueriesLiterary Agents Author:Brian Hodge
“I could get a better education interviewing John Steinbeck than talking to an English professor about novels.” TalkingNovelProfessors Author:William Safire
“A novel can educate to some extent, but first a novel has to entertain. That's the contract with the reader: you give me ten hours and I'll give you a reason to turn every page. I have a commitment to accessibility. I believe in plot. I want an English professor to understand the symbolism while at the same time I want the people I grew up with - who may not often read anything but the Sears catalog - to read my books.” PeopleWantGivingFirstsBelieveMayBookReasonTurnsI BelieveHoursNovelGrewReaderTenGrew UpPagesCommitmentGive MeI Believe InPlotContractsProfessorsEducateSymbolismAccessibilitySears Author:Barbara Kingsolver
“It does no one any good to say their novel sucks if you don't have an idea how to make it better, how to approach it from different angles and make it work. It's obviously a subjective process, right? But the thing about subjectivity, at least in the classroom, is that you're banking on your professor's subjectivity to be both personal and professional - that he or she has some sense about the world outside the workshop.” IfsWorldDoeIdeasDifferentProcessNovelApproachWorking ItProfessorsClassroomAngleBankingSubjectiveSubjectivityWorkshopsDifferent Angles Author:Tod Goldberg
“When I was in college I started writing prose, because a very smart professor asked me what I like to read and I said, "Novels," and she said, "You should be writing them then." Memoir never even occurred to me. I think I was afraid of nonfiction and I was afraid of navel-gazing, and of being seen.” ThinkingShouldWritingSaidNovelCollegeSmartMemoirProseProfessorsNonfictionGazingVery SmartNavelNavel Gazing Author:Melissa Febos