92-year-old John McPhee talks to the Commonweal podcast about his creative non-fiction, “big” writing projects, his “desk drawer projects,” and his new book. Listen here.
writing
Joyce Carol Oates on writing, memory, Twitter, and identity politics
At age 85, writer Joyce Carol Oates has “so many ideas.” Check out David Marchese’s interview with Oates at The New York Times. Here is a taste: How does support for the idea that diverse voices should be given primacy […]
It is possible to teach and write at the same time?
Here is novelist Christina Lynch at LitHub: When I was hired for a tenure-track English professor position, a colleague said to me, “You’ll never write another word.” I was slightly offended, since I had at that point been writing professionally […]
Lessons on independent thinking from writer Susan Sontag
Over at The Atlantic, writer Katie Roiphe asks: “What would the intellectual powerhouse think about our culture of groupthink and self-righteousness?” She begins: If you are sitting around wondering what Susan Sontag would make of our current political moment, a […]
“I remember Dad whispering, just before the last verse began, ‘Here’s the kicker, listen.'”
When I saw Bruce Springsteen at Penn State University earlier this year he opened the concert with “No Surrender“; Well we busted out of classHad to get away from those foolsWe learned more from a three-minute recordBaby, than we ever […]
Christopher Lasch’s plain style
Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) was one of the 20th-century’s great cultural critics. But did you know he is the author of a writing guide? Here is a taste of Max Ridge’s piece on Lasch’s 2002 book (published posthumously) Plain Style: A […]
Molly Prentiss’s writing shed
I haven’t done a writing shed post in a while. Yesterday Lit Hub featured novelist Molly Prentiss‘s shed. A taste: When we’d decided to purchase a one-room house, we hadn’t considered that we’d be stuck inside of it, without access […]
The adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
I am looking forward to watching the documentary “Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb“ Here is the trailer: Lizzie Gottlieb, the daughter of Robert Caro’s editor Bob Gottlieb, recently spoke with Literary Hub’s Lisa Liebman.. […]
What does artificial intelligence mean for writers?
I have largely ignored all of the debate over ChatGPT (“Generative Pre-training Tranformer), the artificial intelligence program used to generate prose. I have largely ignored it because I am not ready to come to grips with the fact that a […]
Dispose of “very”
Benjamin Dreyer offers an important writing tip in a recent piece at The New York Times. A taste: …though I would never fault the supreme lyricist Johnny Mercer for the gorgeous “You’re much too much / And just too very very,” I […]
The seven deadly sins of writing
Thomas C. Foster teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Michigan-Flint. In a recent piece at LitHub he offers his seven deadly sins. They are: worry, self-doubt, overconfidence, muddiness, vagueness, poor structure, and dishonesty. Here’s a taste: Dishonesty in […]
Jacqueline Doyle shares her experience writing for Current
Earlier this week we published Jacqueline Doyle‘s piece “What Grows on Trees.” Doyle is professor emeritus of English at California State University, East Bay, and author of The Missing Girl. Her creative nonfiction has earned numerous Pushcart nominations and seven Notable Essay […]
The problem with 5-paragraph essays
I never learned to write one. Stanford education professor David Labaree says that the 5-paragraph essay “was meant to be a step on the way. Now it’s the stifling goal for student and scholar alike.” Here is a taste of […]
When do writers have time to write when they have to speak so much?
Someone recently told me that I need to write more like I talk. I think this person meant it as a compliment. I thought about that advice again after I read Beeca Rothfield recent piece at Gawker. I am by […]
A Current contributing editor on writing and motherhood in a pandemic
Over at The Chronicle of Higher Education, historian Nadya Williams writes about how the pandemic provided her with more opportunities to write. We at Current are thrilled about this. Earlier this year Nadya joined our team of contributing editors! (Check […]
If I stop blogging, it will be because of what Elizabeth Corey says in this piece
I am not planning on shutting down The Way of Improvement Leads Home anytime soon, but I admit that I have been tempted, and yielded to the temptations, of everything Elizabeth Corey writes about in her recent piece at National […]
Robert Caro talks to journalism students about writing
Alex Shepherd recently accompanied some CUNY graduate students in journalism during a visit to the Robert Caro exhibition at the New York Historical Society. Here is his piece at The New Republic: You can sense Robert Caro’s disappointment after he […]
On book reviewing
I’ve had a lot of great reviews of my books. (My favorite remains Lauren Winner’s review of The Way of Improvement Leads Home in Books & Culture). I’ve also had some bad reviews written by people who wished I had […]
Eric Foner on learning how to type
American historian Eric Foner‘s recent letter to The New York Times: To the Editor: In her letter to the editor (June 27), inspired by a review of Danielle Dreilinger’s “The Secret History of Home Economics,” Jane Feder relates how as […]
Is the online “newsletter” a new literary genre?
Everyone is on Substack these days. People like Heather Cox Richardson and Andrew Sullivan are making hundreds of thousands of dollars on the platform. Early in the brainstorming process, we chose not to launch Current on Substack. Perhaps I will […]