Gardner’s imagined writer, in addition to being young, is also male. This time through, I immediately realized why I kept drifting away from this book. Until this week, I had never thought about why I just attributed it to the same failure of will and persistence that led me to abandon novel manuscripts after a few chapters. I carted around a paperback copy of this book for many years (far past the time I would generally be accounted “young”), always intending to read it but never getting past the first chapter or so. It took all my resolve to push myself to the end of this week’s book, John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. Knowing that the sprint won’t last forever can help you stick with it when it gets hard. What can you begin or accomplish in the handful of weeks left in the year? Set a stop date for yourself (December 13 is mine) and then start sprinting. How was the writing this week? It’s October now – the true heart of Fuck It Fall – and now is the time to push yourself creatively just a bit.
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