In this Book
- The Creative Writer's Survival Guide: Advice from an Unrepentant Novelist
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: University of Iowa Press
Beginning with “The Writer’s Wonderland—Or: A Warning” and ending with “You’ve Published a Book—Now What?” The Creative Writer’s Survival Guide is a must-read for creative-writing students and teachers, conference participants, and aspiring writers of every stamp. Directed primarily at fiction writers but suitable for writers of all genres, John McNally’s guide is a comprehensive, take-no-prisoners blunt, highly idiosyncratic, and delightfully subjective take on the writing life.
McNally has earned the right to dispense advice on this subject. He has published three novels, two collections of short fiction, and hundreds of individual stories and essays. He has edited six anthologies and worked with editors at university presses, commercial houses, and small presses. He has earned three degrees, including an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and taught writing to thousands of students at nine different universities. But he has received far more rejections than acceptances, has endured years of underpaid adjunct work, and is presently hard at work on a novel for which he has no guarantee of publication. In other words, he’s been at the writing game long enough to rack up plenty of the highs and lows that translate into an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to become a writer or anyone who is already a writer but doesn’t know how to take the next step toward the writing life.
In the sections The Decision to Become a Writer, Education and the Writer, Getting Published, Publicity, Employment for Writers, and The Writer’s Life, McNally wrestles with writing degrees and graduate programs, the nuts and bolts of agents and query letters and critics, book signings and other ways to promote your book, alcohol and other home remedies, and jobs for writers from adjunct to tenure-track. Chapters such as “What Have You Ever Done That’s Worth Writing About?” “Can Writing Be Taught?” “Rejection: Putting It in Perspective,” “Writing as a Competitive Sport,” “Seven Types of MLA Interview Committees,” “Money and the Writer,” and the all-important “Talking about Writing vs. Writing” cover a vast range of writerly topics from learning your craft to making a living at it. McNally acts as the writer’s friendly drill sergeant, relentlessly honest but bracingly cheerful as he issues his curmudgeonly marching orders. Alternately cranky and philosophical, full of to-the-point anecdotes and honest advice instead of wonkish facts and figures, The Creative Writer’s Survival Guide is a snarky, truthful, and immensely helpful map to being a writer in today’s complex world.
Table of Contents
- The Writer’s Wonderland—Or: A Warning
- pp. xi-xiii
- Part One: The Decision to Become a Writer
- This Writer’s Beginnings
- pp. 3-6
- Knowing Why
- pp. 7-9
- Perseverance
- pp. 13-16
- Do You Have What It Takes?
- pp. 17-18
- My Own Illogical Journey
- pp. 19-22
- Part Two: Education and the Writer
- Learn Your Craft
- pp. 25-29
- Can Writing Be Taught?
- pp. 28-30
- Going It Alone
- p. 31
- The MFA Controversy
- pp. 46-52
- Choosing the Right Graduate Program
- pp. 53-54
- Student Loans
- pp. 65-66
- Feedback in the Workshop
- pp. 67-70
- Learn Punctuation and Grammar
- pp. 71-72
- The Professional Student
- pp. 75-76
- Part Three: Getting Published
- Publishing in Magazines
- pp. 80-83
- Why Publish in Magazines?
- pp. 84-85
- The Cover Letter
- pp. 86-89
- Simultaneous Submissions
- pp. 90-91
- The Slush Pile
- pp. 92-93
- Publishing a Book
- pp. 94-105
- The Query Letter
- pp. 117-120
- Rejection: Putting It in Perspective
- pp. 121-125
- Conferences and Book Festivals
- pp. 126-127
- Your Critics, and How to Deal with Them
- pp. 128-131
- The Sales Figure Myth
- pp. 132-134
- The Necessity of Failure
- pp. 135-136
- Thinking outside Your Genre
- pp. 137-138
- The Future of Publishing
- pp. 139-141
- Part Four: Publicity
- Building a Mailing List
- pp. 150-151
- Networking
- pp. 158-159
- Getting to Know Booksellers
- pp. 160-162
- Conferences
- pp. 163-165
- Book Festivals
- pp. 166-167
- Finding the Odd Venue to Promote Your Book
- pp. 174-175
- Buying Copies of Your Own Book
- pp. 176-177
- Selling Serial Rights
- p. 184
- Alumni Magazines
- p. 185
- Hiring an Independent Publicist
- pp. 186-191
- Part Five: Employment for Writers
- Jobs for Writers
- pp. 195-198
- Publishing Jobs
- pp. 199-200
- Landing a Teaching Position
- pp. 201-209
- Seven Types of MLA Interview Committees
- pp. 210-213
- The Effects of Academia on Your Writing
- pp. 214-215
- Part Six: The Writer’s Life
- Making Writing a Habit
- pp. 219-225
- Talking about Writing Isn’t Writing
- pp. 226-227
- Reading with Humility
- pp. 228-230
- The Writer’s Vices
- pp. 231-232
- Money and the Writer
- pp. 233-234
- On Being Humble
- p. 240
- Dealing with Fame
- p. 241
- You’ve Published a Book—Now What?
- pp. 242-243
- Recommended Reading
- pp. 251-255
- Bibliography
- pp. 257-259
- Acknowledgments
- p. 261
Additional Information
Copyright
2010