Tweetables by Elizabeth Rush (@elizabetharush on Twitter):
“I’m just a mule. I just show up every day and climb very, very slowly up that mountain.”
“I know writing is about your writing, but it’s also about your networking.”
“My first draft is the Ugly Middle.”
“I feel like I turn to writers to help me solve problems that I’m having.”
Continue reading “Episode 71—Working Backward with Elizabeth Rush”
By Brendan O’Meara
Tweetables by Jessica Lahey (@JessLahey on Twitter):
“Give me everything that was wrong with it and have me learn.”
“I’ve realized that long walks and gardening are a part of my process.”
“Almost always the editor is right.”
“Our tagline is, ‘Keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.'”
“The work of being a writer means you get words on the page.”
Jessica Lahey, author of the essay “I’ve Taught Monsters,” which recently appeared in Issue 63 of Creative Nonfiction and the NYT best seller The Gift of Failure, came by the show to talk about teaching and getting the work done.
“The work of being a writer means you get words on the page,” Lahey says. “It’s as simple as that. I means you read, you write, and get words on the page.”
We talk about her approach to teaching and language, and also how Stephen King’s On Writing influenced her style. We also talk about what it means to work hard as a writer, a very nebulous term. What does hard work look like?
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