The Writing Trap.
Hemingway gets it done. by Dick Loftin. Did you ever get an idea for short story, and you let it pass because, well, you don’t write short stories? You’re a poet, an essayist, you’re a reviewer, a...
View ArticleThe Quotable Writer: John Gardner.
John Gardner by Dick Loftin. While doing some much-needed cleaning of my desk, I came across a Paris Review interview with the late fiction writer John Gardner. I thought it was appropriate for the...
View ArticleRECOMMENDED READING: “My Bookstore,” Edited by Ronald Rice.
“My Bookstore,” Edited by Ronald Rice “Many people love good bookstores, but writers? We completely lose our heads over them.” - Richard Russo, in the...
View ArticleThe Quotable Writer: “You don’t say…” Jefferson Misquoted.
Cover of “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power,” by Jon Meacham (Random House). by Dick Loftin. For those of us who love words, the pleasure in books is immeasurable. What I particularly enjoy is...
View ArticleThe Quotable Writer: Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke By Dick Loftin. While reading the New York Review of Books this morning, I found a piece called “Study the Panther!” by John Banville. It is a review of the book, “Letters to a...
View ArticleBook Ends
John Updike posed in front of bookshelves. By Dick Loftin. I often wonder what happens to the collections of books once the owner dies. I’ll find myself staring at my bookshelves wondering what...
View ArticleDo Book Reviews Help?
Cover of Selected Letters of William Styron. by Dick Loftin. I’ve read many book reviews and I have written some, but I wonder how much they really help when selecting a book to read? Some of the...
View ArticleAn Appreciation of Blake Bailey.
Blake Bailey by Dick Loftin. Blake Bailey has quickly become one of my favorite writers. He has written compelling biographies of Richard Yates (a troubled guy, but seems to have been someone you could...
View ArticleThe End of Poetry.
Cover of Robert Lowell’s ‘Life Studies,’ 1959 “You’ll never be alone with a poet in your pocket.” – John Adams By Dick Loftin. I enjoy poetry. Some of my...
View ArticleWriting with Stephen King.
Cover of Stephen King’s book, “On Writing.” by Dick Loftin. Stephen King has sold over 300,000,000 books. Think about that number: 300,000,000. Astounding. So when a writer of his stature sits down...
View ArticleArticles, Clips and This and That on Writing.
William Faulkner at work on his Royal typewriter. [Image: Xavier.edu]by Dick Loftin. I’m a clipper. If there is an interesting article in a magazine or online, I’ll clip it or print it and it goes into...
View ArticleSherlock Holmes copyright case may be more than…‘elementary.’
by Dick Loftin. An enormous opportunity for writers could come forward if a case placing the copyright of Sherlock Holmes in public domain reaches an end point. A Chicago judge has already opened the...
View Article“The Reading Pile.”
David McCullough working in his ‘writing shed’ with his Royal KMM typewriter. Photo from wsj.com. by Dick Loftin. I have little and not-so-little piles of clippings, articles and interviews of writers...
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