“The more the Editor and I talked, almost daily, at this point, the more I sought ways to create space between us—asking about his children, talking about my boyfriend.”
editing
Posted inFeature
The Rhythm of Writing: A Chat with the Writer and Editor Behind The Atavist’s New Issue
As host of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, Brendan O’Meara is no stranger to talking about the art and craft of storytelling. In this craft-focused excerpt, we’re digging into Episode 336, in which he interviewed Atavist editor Jonah Ogles and freelance writer Cassidy Randall about her work on the latest issue of The Atavist. Cassidy Randall, a freelance writer based out […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Why I Paid Tenfold to Buy Back the Rights for Two of My Books
Kiese Laymon on revision, radical friendship, and community.
Posted inBlog Post, Commentary, Longreads News
Strong Writer-Editor Partnerships Create the Best Stories, As This Extended Bus Metaphor Will Prove
We need your help to keep this bus gassed up.
Posted inNonfiction
Editors Thinking About Editing at the AWP Conference
The only way to work as an editor and a writer is to continue learning from other editors and writers.
Posted inProfiles & Interviews
Publishing the Best of the Desert: An Interview With Ken Layne
“If you’re doing something small, something that’s mostly your labor and vision, then stick to what makes you satisfied.”
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
‘Writing Is Selection’: John McPhee on the Art of Omission
Writing is selection. Just to start a piece of writing you have to choose one word and only one from more than a million in the language. Now keep going. What is your next word? Your next sentence, paragraph, section, chapter? Your next ball of fact. You select what goes in and you decide what […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Maya Angelou on the Joys of Being Edited
When I finish maybe fifty pages and read them—fifty acceptable pages—it’s not too bad. I’ve had the same editor since 1967. Many times he has said to me over the years or asked me, Why would you use a semicolon instead of a colon? And many times over the years I have said to him […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Stories that Magazine Editors Are Afraid Of
“It’s probably worth saying that there are editors at all sorts of magazines (myself included) who know they should never assign a story on a certain kind of subject—a Phish tour, say, or Mitt Romney, or what’s up with Cuba?—and yet they do so despite their better judgment. A writer tells you he or she […]