MFA creative writing programs do not typically provide in-depth and explicit craft work—you are not going to encounter craft books that teach you how to do specific things with narrative. MFA professor Nancy Wayson Dinan discusses what MFA programs do for you instead, and what to expect overall.

Reading diversely is one of the best ways to make sure your novel is unique and interesting. When you're drawing inspiration from books in many genres, written by authors with a variety of backgrounds, you don't have to worry as much about your book being too similar to anyone else's.

This story in the London Review of Books brings together the 18th c. Black intellectual Francis Williams, the Jamaican slaver Edward Long, the scientific racism of David Hume, and much more, to unlock a centuries long art mystery. An amazing read! www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

After I visit the library, I can never stop myself from immediately reading at least the first chapter or two of each book. Today it's Book Lovers by Emily Henry and The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty. At least I showed restraint by only getting two (more).
#books #reading

Five questions every query letter should answer:
Who is the protagonist?
What do they want?
What are they willing to do to get it?
What is standing in their way?
What happens if they fail?

Sometimes a secret sixth question: why are they the one who can solve this problem?
#querying #publishing

Cis writers: if you’re writing about trans people, you can just use their current, correct pronouns, even when discussing their life pre-transition. Unless the person asks you to do otherwise, you can just gender them correctly in all time periods. No one will be confused. I promise.

One thing I've noticed about generative AI is that the more I see it, the faster I can identify that it's AI. Maybe being an editor helps, but I'd guess that over time as people get more used to it, everyone will get better at recognizing its patterns and start taking AI content less seriously.