Ask the Author: Chip Scanlan
Answered Questions (7)
Chip Scanlan
LOWER YOUR STANDARDS! Many beginning writers, and veterans, too, that I work with are hobbled by writer's block. They want immediately to write a best seller, but they have trouble getting words on the page or computer screen. The solution: freewriting, brief sessions where you type as fast as you can without judging the result. They are amazed what they produce when they outrace the inner critic inside us all and open the gates of their creativity. I recommend they read "The Watcher at the Gate," an essay by the novelist Gail Godwin. https://www.gailgodwin.com/watcher-at...
Of course, they must raise the bar when they revise to make sure their stories are accurate and well-written, but lowering your standards at first produces prose that can be massaged into greatness.
Of course, they must raise the bar when they revise to make sure their stories are accurate and well-written, but lowering your standards at first produces prose that can be massaged into greatness.
Chip Scanlan
Freedom. To pursue projects that interest me, but mostly to experience writing as a process of discovery.
Chip Scanlan
The third in a series of writing advice books, drawn from 50 years as a professional writer and since 1994, as a writing teacher and coach. It will be a collection of craft lessons, drawn from mynewsletter, chipswritinglessons.com
The third in a series of writing advice books, drawn from 50 years as a professional writer and since 1994, as a writing teacher and coach. It will be a collection of craft lessons, drawn from mynewsletter, chipswritinglessons.com
Chip Scanlan
My grandfather was a grafter in the NYC Tammany Hall political force. I've always wondered how it got involved in shady deals and what effect it had o my father, his only son. It's a lingering mystery that haunts me to this day.
Chip Scanlan
Memoir, chiefly, as I am working on based on my experiences as a callow, hapless Peace Corps volunteer in French West Africa in 1071-72, Voodoo was a dominant presence in my village.
Chip Scanlan
Like many writers, I get inspired to write when I open my laptop. I don't court a Muse. I start typing and see what comes. It is a process of discovery that only begins when I start to write. Madeleine L'Engle, the acclaimed author of books for young people and adults ("A Wrinkle in Time"), put it better than I can. “Inspiration usually comes during work," she said, "rather than before it.”
Chip Scanlan
I can best answer this question by asking readers to read a story The Poynter Institute, one of the world's top schools for journalists, published on its website today. I was on the faculty for 15 years, directing the writing programs and the National Writer's Workshops. Since 1994, I've coached writers around the globe. I've interviewed scores of award-winning writers about their processes, and continue to do so for Nieman Storyboard, a Harvard-sponsored website that celebrates the art and craft of nonfiction storytelling. After dismal marketing and promotion for my last three books, I decided to self-publish. "From reporter to the corner office: A self-publishers maiden voyage," will, I think, cover most of the ground for this question. You can find it at https://www.poynter.org/business-work... Thanks, Chip
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