What titles should be on a "Personal MFA in Creative Writing Fiction" reading list? [more inside]
posted by thepalephantom on Dec 22, 2009 - 14 answers

I love Bill Simmons' "The Book of Basketball". What should I read next? [more inside]
posted by reenum on Dec 8, 2009 - 11 answers

Between my iPhone's Stanza app and the loooooong quiet days ahead of me in the office during the holiday season, I'd like to read some stuff online. Any suggestions? [more inside]
posted by Madamina on Nov 25, 2009 - 6 answers

With NaNoWriMo looming ever nearer, I would like to hear your best tips, tricks, habits, and techniques for staying chained to the keyboard. [more inside]
posted by BitterOldPunk on Oct 22, 2009 - 26 answers

What well-known novels lack any character descriptions aside from names?
posted by odinsdream on Oct 9, 2009 - 17 answers

I am a non-fiction writer but have not read a fiction book since high school. What great fiction books will improve my writing? [more inside]
posted by Spurious on Oct 5, 2009 - 34 answers

Has anyone ever formalized the proper conduct for the fiction writer regarding his/her nonfiction sources? [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Sep 9, 2009 - 7 answers

Where does one go to find the best pieces of short fiction available on the internet? [more inside]
posted by titantoppler on Sep 6, 2009 - 11 answers

What resources would you recommend for a beginning writer? [more inside]
posted by TheDukeofLancaster on Jun 4, 2009 - 26 answers

Would it be seen as (and is it really) exceptionally tasteless to write a fictional novel about a soldiers' experiences in Iraq? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Apr 6, 2009 - 16 answers

I've seen a list of the most popular websites, and another of the most popular blogs, but for these three categories (literature, newspapers, magazines) I've found a list hard to track down. I'd like it ordered in order of popularity, but a top-ten (or top-hundred) would be fine too. Thanks! [more inside]
posted by omnigut on Mar 19, 2009 - 3 answers

Can anyone recommend good novels about gay people? Not just genre fiction but actually literature? It seems to me there must be, but I've never been able to find any.
posted by blue shadows on Dec 14, 2008 - 57 answers

Working writers: how do you carve out time for fiction? [more inside]
posted by mynameisluka on Sep 5, 2008 - 18 answers

I'm looking for short stories/poems/creative non-fiction and the like about school, schooling, education, and/or learning to write/self-expression. Should be suitable for college freshpersons.
posted by Saxon Kane on Aug 24, 2008 - 4 answers

Why do novelists use "________" in place of a character's name? [more inside]
posted by serazin on Aug 11, 2008 - 10 answers

Aliens, monsters, and ghosts. The big three. But is there a fourth? [more inside]
posted by Flying Saucer on Jun 26, 2008 - 42 answers

Can you help me set the writing soundtrack to my novels? [more inside]
posted by changeling on Jun 26, 2008 - 23 answers

Looking for sites or reviewers who review books other than literary fiction [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jun 10, 2008 - 4 answers

A few years ago there was a short story in the New Yorker set in the near future. The characters were children raised in a world where they seemed to be market research test subjects... I really can't recall any more details than that... Does this ring any bells?
posted by psergio on Jun 5, 2008 - 3 answers

What are your favorite short stories or short story collections, anthologies etc. [more inside]
posted by Salvatorparadise on May 28, 2008 - 54 answers

How do you make up stories ? My kids love me making up stories (and then repeating them ad-infinitum !) but doing so has set me thinking about the process of creating fiction. [more inside]
posted by southof40 on Mar 8, 2008 - 9 answers

Recommendations/sources for good erotic writing? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Mar 1, 2008 - 16 answers

How can I write better short stories (science fiction) [more inside]
posted by Wolfster on Jan 25, 2008 - 20 answers

I'm looking for a series of hardback science fiction anthologies I dimly remember from childhood (sometime in the mid 80s). I think it had a one word title with a number, and the series went up to at least number five. I remember two stories in particular... [more inside]
posted by Artw on Jan 13, 2008 - 11 answers

Who's written fiction within the last 5-10 years, that deals realistically with the experience of American people under 40? [more inside]
posted by toomuchkatherine on Dec 14, 2007 - 26 answers

What would you recommend to someone who wants to increase their confidence in their writing abilities? (books/websites/other resources) [more inside]
posted by melissa on Nov 5, 2007 - 32 answers

I've written some fiction. Now I want to see if it's any good. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Oct 14, 2007 - 7 answers

Help me get bronchitis! (yes, you read that right.) [more inside]
posted by angry.polymath on Aug 17, 2007 - 34 answers

Do you know of any fiction writers who don't read fiction, or does such a beast even exist? [more inside]
posted by (bb|[^b]{2}) on Jun 8, 2007 - 29 answers

fiction writers: how do you move a story without being in it? [more inside]
posted by mirileh on Apr 3, 2007 - 28 answers

Charles Dickens claimed he never dreamt about his characters. Is this par for the course for fictionists? [more inside]
posted by IndigoJones on Feb 14, 2007 - 10 answers

How can I revive a dead novel? [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Jan 22, 2007 - 19 answers

I am looking for well regarded books/scholarly papers about writing. Most specifically in the areas of Nonfiction (the essay style of article writing) and Children's Fiction (for a young adult audience). Any tips? Go as far and broad as you can. I'll be off to the British library tomorrow, so the sky is the limit. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jan 9, 2007 - 6 answers

What are some great depressing, or I should say melancholic, 21st century novels/short story collections? The latest that I have ordered is E. Annie Proulx 'Close Range: Wyoming Stories,' but that is from the late 90s. I just cannot take the material that is being churned out in the 21st century. Most of it is pretty much the same. If it isn't formulaic mainstream work it turns out to be obscure and pointless POMO drivel. I've scoured the 20th century and found a ton of titles, but almost nothing from the last 7 years. The one recent gem I found is Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'. Thanks in advance.
posted by Gnostic Novelist on Jan 6, 2007 - 34 answers

How can a writer find an artist for a comic book collaboration? [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Dec 7, 2006 - 7 answers

PublishingBizFilter: I want to know a little about the slushpile. Who looks at it? When? Why? [more inside]
posted by Mister_A on Oct 10, 2006 - 14 answers

Enrique Vila-Matas is an author known by using other author's quotations into his own fiction books. Bartleby & Co. and El mal de Montano quote dozens of works by other authors. How can he do this, legally? [more inside]
posted by dfreire on Sep 25, 2006 - 2 answers

I'm looking for a tough writing teacher/workshop in New York City. [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Sep 15, 2006 - 10 answers

Has anyone vastly improved -- or just changed -- someone else's already published writing by editing? [more inside]
posted by callmejay on Aug 30, 2006 - 25 answers

What's that site with web-fomat short stories, usually at least somewhat autobiographical, and accompanied by illustrations--in the vein of the old word.com Work content? [more inside]
posted by littlegreenlights on Aug 25, 2006 - 4 answers

How to (tactfully and successfully) get some major names to look at some of my writing? Of course there is [more inside]
posted by exlotuseater on Jul 18, 2006 - 18 answers

Show me the way to other writing critique web sites, where there are red-lined drafts of writing samples, or even better, rewrites of less-than-stellar writing. [more inside]
posted by Khalad on Jun 5, 2006 - 10 answers

How can I make my symbolic/abstract writing style more accessible to readers, so that they won't turn away from my stories in boredom? [more inside]
posted by gregb1007 on Jun 2, 2006 - 58 answers

a short story by a continental european writer that directly addresses or suggests conflicts within human nature-- the desire to perform "good" acts vs. our tendency (the temptation) to commit "evil" ones? [more inside]
posted by ronv on Mar 8, 2006 - 10 answers

What's the best way (non-spam) way to market a flash/micro fiction publication and community? (no, there are no gratuitous self-links inside) [more inside]
posted by aebaxter on Jan 26, 2006 - 1 answer

How can I be more creative and original? [more inside]
posted by Rubber Soul on Nov 6, 2005 - 34 answers

On behalf of a friend, though it actually sounds like an interesting question and I think I'd like to know too: Could you put up something asking about whether there's a real-world source/derivation for the words "hron" and "hronir" used in Borges' "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"?
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me on Nov 5, 2005 - 3 answers

What is the legal state of using the names of local businesses, locations, politicians, and "people of import" in a work of fiction? [more inside]
posted by Netzapper on Aug 8, 2005 - 9 answers

What are the legal ramifications of using a real person in a fictional story? Do you have to have their permission? [more inside]
posted by bjork24 on May 20, 2005 - 22 answers

I have to write something fictional about science that involves REAL science (as opposed to fake science, i.e. "Star Wars"). Since I'm a non-science person, what are some areas of science that are full of good story possibilities? [Note: many people are already doing DNA and cloning.] Thanks!
posted by adrober on Dec 19, 2004 - 20 answers