Reading Recommendations

When I began teaching workshops, a lot of my lessons came by trail & error. Here’s a couple of my favorites I’ve found through the years.

• Bret Anthony Johnston’s Don’t Write What You Know Why we should look beyond our own backyards

• George Saunders on What Writers Really Do A great look at how writers weigh decisions, especially during revision process

• Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried A masterclass in the importance of exposition

• Z Z Packer’s Brownies Fantastic dialogue; group dynamics

• Richard Ford’s Optimists The beauty is the contrast between the dialogue and the unsaid

• John Cheever’s The Swimmer A slow, careful study in tension (internal vs external). Also a great study of place. I wrote some craft notes about it here.