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Facebook: Friend or Foe?

by Celeste Ng

Facebook: it’s the bane of every writer’s existence–at least, every writer I know. You sit down at your computer to work. Maybe you even get started on your latest story. Then you need to look something up. You open up your browser. And it calls to you. Come on. Just check me quickly. Don’t you want to know what your friends are up to? What are you waiting for? NEWS IS HAPPENING AND YOU ARE MISSING IT! Yet Facebook can provide huge benefits to writers as well. In the Michigan Quarterly Review, author (and FWR contributor) Preeta Samarasan explains why […]


Books all over the house

by Celeste Ng

“A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them.” ~ Horace Mann To help you on that front, here’s a roundup of ways to work books into your home decor–everywhere. As planters An acupuncturist (and apparent book lover) gives a step-by-step tutorial on transforming books into planters for succulents: As nightstands Galleycat spotlights this nightstand made out of books, on etsy: In the bathroom Yes, really. Design blog Apartment Therapy offers inspiration for combing these unlikely […]


"She is not a complete master of a house, so that comes over in her writing, too."

by Celeste Ng

You have probably heard by now that V. S. Naipaul issued a broad-handed diss to women writers, claiming no female writer could be his equal: He felt that women writers were “quite different”. He said: “I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or not. I think [it is] unequal to me.” The author, who was born in Trinidad, said this was because of women’s “sentimentality, the narrow view of the world”. “And inevitably for a woman, she is not a complete master of a house, so that […]


Kindle-proof your manuscript

by Celeste Ng

Okay, so maybe you are a confirmed Kindle-hater. And you’re also a writer. You’ve sworn to yourself that you will never, ever, allow your words to be displayed on a Kindle. But as a writer, you don’t always have control over the format of your book. What to do? At The Millions, Garth Risk Hallberg offers 7 ways to “Kindle-proof” your manuscript. For example: Play With Text, Typeface, and White Space eReaders currently use two approaches to rendering text. One is quasi-photographic, but the Kindle’s remains the more battery-efficient method of imposing a standard typeface. This makes the effects of […]


Columbia Publishing Course takes on digital publishing

We’re delighted to present another post by our awesome FWR editorial intern, Nicole Aber.  Enjoy! Going into the publishing industry now requires a whole new skill set from the days when American classics like East of Eden and The Great Gatsby were released in the early and mid-twentieth century. Now, those interested in the publishing field are faced not only with print media, but also questions of how to keep publishing in pace with the ever-increasing digital world — questions of the utmost importance for those enrolled in a course all about publishing. Students attending the Columbia Publishing Course this […]


Book-of-the-Week Winners: Everything Beautiful Began After

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured Everything Beautiful Began After as our Book-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations to: Angela Scott (@whimsywriting) Belinda Frisch (@b_frisch) Claire Marie Slight (@clairemslight) To claim your signed copy of this collection, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us!


Reading Bad: why writers should read "bad" books

by Celeste Ng

Most writers agree that in order to write, you must also read. Author Allison Winn Scotch raised this point in a recent blog post titled just that: I think being a successful writer means reading your peers and learning from them too – I can’t tell you how much reading authors whom I admire has helped me up my game. Additionally, I think it’s hard to get into a literary state of mind without, well, being literary. And Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan agreed, saying in an interview (via): My advice is so basic. Number one: Read. I feel like it’s […]


Poetry bomber

by Celeste Ng

Ever hear of knitbombing? Well, now, there’s poetry bombing. Galleycat reports: Miami artist Agustina Woodgate illustrated the art of “poetry bombing,” sewing snippets of poems into thrift store clothes. Here’s a video: Poetry is so well suited for this, but can you imagine fiction bombing? Little snippets of short stories or knockout lines from novels hidden… anywhere?


How to save a library? With postcards–and some attitude.

We’re delighted to present the following post by Nicole Aber, our FWR editorial intern. Enjoy! Last summer, I worked a few blocks away from the regal main branch of the New York Public Library near Bryant Park. During the interlude between the end of the work day and the start of a class I was taking, I’d sometimes take refuge in the humbling building, its architectural beauty and breathtaking murals never ceasing to amaze me. So when I came across the story of a young girl aiming to keep the city’s libraries open by writing comical postcards to New York […]


The secret lives of literary characters

by Celeste Ng

I have a theory that in 50 years, or maybe even 20, scholars will be studying a new form of fiction that’s just beginning now. It’s not exactly narrative, nor is it strictly prose. In fact, some of it isn’t even stories. But it involves imagining the secret details of characters’ lives, articulating their thoughts and fears, developing their voices and diction and tone. Unlike typical fanfiction, this new mode of storytelling often use social media or other unconventional means, as if the characters themselves were real people living in and interacting in our world. For lack of a better […]


Readings as patronage events?

by Celeste Ng

Should author readings be free? That’s what the New York Times wondered recently in a story about indie bookstores that charge admission for author events. Bookstores, including some of the most prominent around the country, have begun selling tickets or requiring a book purchase of customers who attend author readings and signings, a practice once considered unthinkable. “There’s no one right now who’s not considering it,” said Sarah McNally, the owner of McNally Jackson Books in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. “The entire independent bookstore model is based on selling books, but that model is changing because so many book […]


Book of the Week: Everything Beautiful Began After, by Simon Van Booy

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

This week’s feature is Simon Van Booy’s Everything Beautiful Began After. Published earlier this month by Harper Perrenial, the book is Van Booy’s first novel. He is also the author of two story collections, The Secret Lives of People in Love and Love Begins in Winter, which won the 2009 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Additionally, he is the editor of three nonfiction philosophy titles: Why We Need Love, Why We Fight, and Why Our Decisions Don’t Matter. Born in London and raised in Wales, Van Booy now lives in New York City, where he teaches at the School […]




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