ARCHIVE FOR Stuart Horwitz

Dear Friday Five-O:

“Why is writing so hard? Does it have to be this hard?”

—Toshi Roshi

Short answer, Toshi: no.

Long answer: our irrational beliefs about writing are what really impede our progress more than say, an uncomprehending public, transitions in publishing, or a lack of spare time.

Dear Friday Five-O:

“What's with this elevator pitch? Am I really expected to boil down the best things about my work into twenty-five words and feel good about it?”

—Max Longwell

Dear Max,

Approaching an agent or a publisher (as many people will do this weekend at the Muse & the Marketplace) can be scary

Dear Friday Five-O:

“In memoir, how do I handle writing about family members and others who are still living?”

—Robert “to the” Graves

Dear Robert:

The first step to answering a question like this is admitting the truth to yourself. Write it down, it doesn’t mean anyone else has to read it. I used to question my wife about those letters her clients wrote in therapy—the ones that were addressed to someone who would never read them, or were even dead. Then I came to see the value in transferring the words to screen or paper.

You still ...

Dear Friday Five-O:

How do I deal with my fear of failure? My fear of facing the blank page?

--Britney Fears

Dear Britney,

When I was in mortuary school, I had the good fortune of being surrounded by a number of dead bodies. A dead body is always a shock, and the shock continues