A selection of articles on Writing

I earnestly believe that a writer gets better as he reads. It’s so important to read a lot and gain different perspectives on the huge amount of knowledge available on writing. I would like to share with you a couple of articles I read last week that I found of interest.The first was from Joe Fassler in The Atlantic. He writes about Stephen King and opening sentences. King, who is so well-known for his mastery over the craft of writing says, ” But there’s one thing I’m sure about. An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.”

As an example he quotes the opening lines from Alexander M. Cain’s ” The Postman Always Rings Twice”: “They threw me off the hay truck about noon.”

I also came across another gem. This one an old ( 1986) article by William F. Buckley, Jr, in The New York Times 

Here the founder of the National Review and commentator, who passed away in 2008 speaks of how each author has his/her rhythm and speed of writing. You need to figure out what works best for you but one thing is certain.

You aren’t going to progress as a writer unless you keep writing.