HeyJaredWriting as a "Second Act"
For people curious about becoming a writer of fiction after a long career in (creative) business.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 3
- Latest publication
- Sep 22, 2026
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- Jul 16, 2026
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research last week (opens the original)
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At book clubs, readers often ask about how much “research” I did for the novel under discussion. The question makes sense to me in the case of historical novels, where deciphering how much was made up and why the author cast the facts the way she did is part of how the reader appreciates the story. All the historical novelists I know spend tons of time looking for authentic detail to enliven a scene.We contemporary novelists need to anchor every scene in specifics, too, but often we don’t need t
connecting through stories (opens the original)
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I am participating in a time-capsule program to commemorate the U.S. semi-quincentennial organized by StoryCorps and NPR’s Morning Edition. Called “Connect 250,” the program asks volunteers from across the country to talk with a stranger for forty minutes about their lives. The conversations are recorded and stored in an archive at the Library of Congress so that future students of history will be able to look back at America in 2026.When you volunteer, you provide a short biography, and the pro
writing the moment (opens the original)
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You may remember my mentioning George Saunders last year. He is a much-lauded writer/teacher who publishes a newsletter on Substack, called “Story Club,” in which he answers students’ questions about writing. His is the only writing advice I seek on the internet because he’s honest and specific. He never says, “do as I do,” but rather “here’s what works for me.” To oversimplify: Saunders tells writers to revise, and revise again, and keep revising until there’s nothing extraneous left and the st
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