In workshops and writing groups, I try to listen as much as I talk. I learn a lot that way! Lectures are different, though. They give me an opportunity to research and think about particular craft issues that interest me and the student writers I teach at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In the hope these talks might help you be the best writer you can be, I’m glad to reprint or include the audio files of selected lectures here. Just click on the link to the talk you want to read or listen to.
Written lectures
- On Overwriting: The Pitfalls of “Lyrical” Prose
- Writing from the Core: Does It Have to Hurt?
- September 11: the Day the Writing Stopped
- Thou Shalt Not Tell . . . Or Shalt Thou?
- Ten-Something: What’s a Young Adult, Anyway?
Audio lectures
- Desire is the Cause of All Plot: The Shape of Yearning in Life and Fiction
- Communion: The Participatory Nature Of Narrative
- Wabi Sabi: The Extraordinary Power Of The Ordinary
- Starting Stories: Why Do They Fall in Love?
- The Short Story: A Boat in a Bottle, and How It Got There
- The Writer as Mole: Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, and Secret Baggage
- Short But Sweet: How to Write Less and Say More, Or, What Our Anglo-Saxon Ancestors Gave Us Besides a Solid Beating
- Poetry: It’s Not Just for Poets
- Call Me Unreliable: The Fallible Narrator as a Bridge to Compassion
- Bad Is Back! Bringing Villains to Life
Links to Live By
Lots of other writers have wise, wonderful things to say about writing and the creative process. Below you’ll find a few of my favorites:
Here and There
- http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/cyalr_index.html This is author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s treasure trove of interviews, bios, and information about children’s and YA lit. Not to be missed! Cyn (the author of Rain is Not My Middle Name and Indian Shoes, new punk-gothic hit series, Tantalize. (Cyn did a great interview with me, which you can read for yourself here: http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2005/08/author-interview-louise-hawes-on.html. )
- http://wordswimmer.blogspot.com A rich, absorbing writer’s resource, Florida-based author/teacher Bruce Black’s blog involves all aspects of the creative process. (An interview with Louise is here: http://wordswimmer.blogspot.com/2007/02/one-writers-process-louise-hawes.html )
- www.stonesoup.com Stone Soup, a standout magazine by young writers and artists — including a terrific review, written by Chloe Miller, of one of Louise’s books: http://www.stonesoup.com/archive/writing/26.
- http://www.johnrechy.com/onWriting_toc.htm Whether or not you enjoy his rawand racy plots, this recipient of the PEN USA West Lifetime Achievement Award and long-time writing teacher, has scandalous, fascinating, often wise things to say about the writing craft.
- http://www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/index.html If you haven’t discovered this treasure trove of magnificent, free treatises on everything from stars to synonyms, please dive in: I particularly recommend entering the lecture library, going to the A-B-C-D section, and clicking the link to Robertson Davies’ lectures “On Reading and Writing.” You’ll fall in love!
- http://www.teachingauthors.com Six professional children’s writers who also teach writing, have pooled their experience and genres to bring you priceless comments, exercises, and writing tips. Whether you write fiction, non-fiction, poetry or picture books, these graduates of the Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children Program know whereof they write!
- http://throughthetollbooth.com/ What do nine writing women share? Passion, style, and the in’s and out’s of writing for children and young adults. Bookmark this valuable resource!
- http://writeatyourownrisk.wordpress.com Last but far from least, the blog of the faculty of the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Vermont College of Fine Arts is fun, witty, and bordering on brilliant ☺
North Carolina
- www.wincbooks.com Writers and Illustrators of North Carolina, is a membership of professional children’s book creators. In addition to news and downloads, you can find the individual websites of all our gifted members here.
- www.scbwicarolinas.org/ Carolinas chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
- www.ncwriters.org Website of the North Carolina Writers Network.
Want to find the websites of other published authors?
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