In Their Own Words

Sunday, May 28, 2006  -  reddit

Rather than creating a few related posts strung together full of wonderful links to writing articles, I think I've come up with a better idea. I'd like to contact the authors of each of the articles I find, and ask their permission to begin collecting the articles themselves. There are so many that aren't really courses on writing, that aren't tutorials or anything like that, yet are full of really valuable information that can make not just writing, but surviving as a writer a lot easier.

Sometime this week I'll contact Alex Epstein and Craig Mazin, and see if they're game. Then I'll hit up Lee Goldberg, and if I can find an e-mail for her, Jane Espenson. These are the four people I'm most familiar with, and four people whose posts on their respective websites inspired the idea in the first place.

I may or may not attempt to place a few of my own articles on writing with them, it depends on how brave I feel.

As the collection grows, I'll place each article into different sections, creating and strengthening common themes. If all works well, they may collectively tell a very wonderful story on living life as a writer, how to get there, and what to do when you succeed.

A book would be a persons first thought, but I'm very opposed to that idea. I'd much rather create an e-book of sorts, a fancy PDF, and give it away for free. Not only do I think that will help get people on board, but also because it's a principle upon which the articles were written in the first place. You can buy writing books, and you should, as there is a lot of really great information in them. There are some things that you just can't get in these books, and even though they are readily available on the web, you have to find them first.

I don't personally know either of the four writers I plan to approach, and I won't be surprised of none of them are interested. I just hope that they are, because it'll be so much better if it is more than just myself blathering about things I barely understand.

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