The Attic Workshop

The first step before beginning a new writing project is often putting together a sanctuary that boosts productivity and reduces friction. Take it somewhat seriously because, as an author friend of mine likes to quip, this is your world headquarters. Everyone’s different, so do what works for you. Declutter & Basic Organization Clear your work space. Get rid of stuff you don’t need. Set up folders, calendar, and keep the books you need handy. Ergonomics Get a chair that supports your lower back.

Michael Mohr (born 1982) is an American novelist, essayist and editor currently living abroad. He is the voice behind Substack’s Sincere American Writing. Mohr has authored six books, including the literary punk YA novel The Crew, a raw coming-of-age story about the high cost of belonging, the visceral short story collection American Freaks, and his fictional memoir Two Years in New York. With years in the trenches as both a writer and developmental editor, his advice cuts through the noise. 1.

James Joyce (1882–1941) stands as one of the most transformative figures in 21-century literary history. As an Irish novelist, short-story writer, and poet, Joyce fundamentally dismantled classical narrative conventions, pioneering techniques that redefined how written language captures human thought and reality. Through a combination of radical stylistic innovation and deep emotional intimacy, his masterworks brought modernism to its apex and permanently altered the possibilities of the novel.

Waldo Salt’s golden rule for screenwriting: never rely on dialogue to drive the plot. Cinema is foremost about images, not words, so firstbuild the visual foundation by finding the right IMAGES & ACTIONS for the film: Map out character motivations, conflicts, and physical action before typing a single line of spoken text. Let the subtext work. Scenes should be fully understandable visually, as in silent pictures. Then write the dialogue last.

Here are various impactful ways to tell your life story. This is the most traditional, straightforward route. Focus on thematic threads that tie the timeline together. Filter every event through a single lens, like your relationship with your career, or the search for faith. This approach focuses on the forks in the road, life-changing decisions. Keep readers engaged through clear cause-and-effect narratives. Identify the points at which your life trajectory changed.

Ernest Hemingway believed a story’s meaning should not be too evident on the surface, but should be implied. As in life, perhaps 80% of the story is hidden beneath the surface.

What is your advice to writers? How do you plan out your stories? My advice to writers is to write with your heart first. When you’re working on a first draft, don’t edit yourself. Let it be messy, raw, and imperfect. The most important thing is getting the story onto the page. Once the draft exists, that’s when you can switch gears and write with your head during the editing process. I find rewriting much easier because I’m working with something that’s already there.

Observe, slow down and dispense with pre-packaged writing. “Tinkers” (2009), Paul Harding’s first novel, won him the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. It’s a shocking victory considering a small-press book had not won a Pulitzer in nearly 30 years since John Kennedy Toole’s only book “A Confederacy of Dunces” was posthumously awarded the honor.

Terms of Endearment (1983 film) The literary canon is full of absent, problematic or malignant mothers. Who knows why, really. But some possible reasons are: Children’s literature inherited the Victorian orphan trope—parents die and the adventure begins; YA inherited the rebellion arc—parents are wrong so the protagonist can be right; Publishers assume young readers want to see their own conflicts mirrored, and that harmony reads as fantasy while dysfunction reads as truth.

Marjane Satrapi is the groundbreaking graphic novelist and filmmaker who fundamentally reshaped the landscape of contemporary autobiography. Born on November 22, 1969, in Rasht, Iran, she lived most of her adult life in France, where she became a naturalized citizen. As a child and adolescent, Satrapi navigated the severe changes brought about by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.