The hottest Writing process Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Literature Topics

Inside the Writerly Life of Joan Didion

MILLER’S BOOK REVIEW 📚 • 1159 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
📚 Literature Author Writing process Influences Journalism Self-reflection
  1. Joan Didion's early writing experiences shaped her as a writer since childhood, emphasizing the importance of practicing and developing writing skills from a young age.
  2. Joan Didion's keen attention to sentence structure and style was influenced by authors like Hemingway, Conrad, and James, showcasing how studying others' works can inform one's writing.
  3. Joan Didion viewed writing as an integral part of her thought process, using writing as a tool for exploration and self-discovery, and recognizing the impact of her writing tools on her thought process.

Sharon Olds's huge archive of thinking and feeling

Subtle Maneuvers • 3321 implied HN points • 27 Nov 23
📚 Literature Poetry Writing process Authors Creativity
  1. Sharon Olds writes by hand and fills notebooks with writing as a way to think and feel through the world.
  2. Olds organizes her writing and creates a huge archive of thinking and feeling, even if not all of it gets published.
  3. Having fun with writing, treating it like drawing or dancing, can be an important part of the creative process.

Processing: How Rita Bullwinkel Wrote Headshot

Counter Craft • 224 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
📚 Literature Writing process Structure Character development
  1. Rita Bullwinkel's novel 'Headshot' showcases a unique structure, following the format of a sports competition but blending it with deep character exploration.
  2. The use of third-person narration in 'Headshot' creates a collective voice for the characters, allowing for a deeper exploration of time manipulation in the story.
  3. Bullwinkel's research background in competitive youth sports informed the authenticity of the novel, particularly in capturing the psychological dynamics of characters in a boxing setting.

tár is a campus novel, grow up

sweater weather • 4697 implied HN points • 14 Feb 23
📚 Literature Writing process Genres Literary Analysis
  1. Campus fiction is not limited to university settings but can involve various social spaces like offices, museums, or even police departments.
  2. Campus novels provide insight into broader societal conflicts and offer a platform for exploring themes such as class, race, and political ideologies.
  3. Genres like campus fiction should not be seen as needing to transcend or blend with others, as they provide nuanced and interesting storytelling on their own.
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Any questions?

So Here’s a Thing • 570 implied HN points • 12 Apr 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Writing process Paid content Visual art Music recommendations
  1. The author plans to offer a question and answer session for paid subscribers about the writing process. Paid subscribers will get exclusive content in return for their payment.
  2. The author seeks feedback from paid subscribers on what additional content they would like to see and how they can make the subscription feel worthwhile. Feedback is essential to improve the subscriber experience.
  3. The author aims to strike a balance where paid subscribers feel they are getting added value while maintaining a fair experience for all subscribers. They want to avoid creating a two-tier system.

I Wrote a Book!

Shades of Greaves • 157 implied HN points • 16 Oct 23
📚 Literature Self-Publishing Book promotion Book launch Writing process
  1. The author has published a book called 'Spoilers: Essays That Might Ruin Your Favorite Hollywood Movies', which has had an exciting reception.
  2. The author is actively promoting the book through events like book launches, signings, and readings.
  3. The author plans to share insights and data on the self-publishing process in a series called 'The Numbers', aiming to help other self-published authors.

A Conversation with Andrew Boryga

Political Currents by Ross Barkan • 11 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
📚 Literature Novelists Characters Influences Voice Writing process
  1. Writing a novel can be a long, evolving process, with Andrew Boryga spending ten years to develop 'Victim,' which started as college short stories and transformed into a multilayered narrative.
  2. Characters in novels don't need to be fundamentally good; Boryga intentionally crafted complex, imperfect characters like Javi in 'Victim' to avoid traditional, simplistic portrayals.
  3. Authenticity in storytelling is crucial; Boryga aimed to portray the Bronx as he knew it, weaving the beauty, pain, and humor of the community into his novel 'Victim.'