ARCHIVE FOR Friday Five-O

Dear Friday Five-0:  I only caught the literary bug last year. That being said, my “too-cool-for-school” – more like too cool for books- attitude hijacked most of my years as a young reader.  As a writer, I now feel as if I’m at a disadvantage. Is it beneficial to have that foundation, and should I start reading through the young- adult cannon to build a more credible literary base?  ~  Brittany

When writing an argumentative essay, which comes first, writing for yourself or writing for your audience? I have always been taught to write first and foremost for myself, but in an argumentative essay, do I put my readers first? --Lori Shaughnessy

Dear Lori –

Short answer: Yes. Put your readers first.

“Do I really need a copy editor to look at my writing after I finish it? I have a pretty good grasp of the English language and I have spell-check.”

-- Don Determined

Dear Don,

I know, times are tough. The time you spend on your writing is already costing you billable hours at your day job, and you don’t want to “throw good money after bad,” as one of my great-uncles used to say.

To be  a writer, do you really need to be a "tortured soul"? What if your soul hasn't fought through torture or suffering? Is there still hope for your writing?
~Henry W.

Dear Henry, dear sweet awesome Henry whom I want to pick up and hug (and Henry is one of my favorite names, by the way)--

Yes. I'm afraid that in order to be a writer--to be any kind of artist--your soul must be tortured

Dear Friday Five-0:
     Perusing the memoir shelves at any bookstore, it seems like the non-fiction that sells these days is written by former drug addicts, children of alcoholic parents, refugees of war, etc. I think I have something to say in a memoir, but I don't know if it would be interesting to anyone but me.
     ~Self-Obsessed

Dear Self-Obsessed: