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The desire to create, to write, to fulfil our artistic dreams is a powerful human need. Yet the number of people who make a living solely by their pen is actually quite small. What does that mean for the rest of us, the self-described writing geeks, who are passionate about writing and who still want to sustain successful literary lives? What does it really mean to find time to build a rewarding writing life while pursuing a career, being a partner or raising a family, in the distracted, time-deprived, 21st-century? In The Geek''s Guide to the Writing Life , based on her Huffington Post blog of the same name, Stephanie Vanderslice shares the secrets and tools to developing a successful, rewarding writing practice in a way that inspires the reader to persevere through the inevitable lows and even the highs of a literary life, so that anyone can pursue the path to realizing their artistic dreams.>
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The geeks and the cool kids
1. Making the commitment
2. Doing the work (and, sometimes not doing the work)
3. Connecting with readers: Publishing
4. Writing geeks unite: Finding your tribe
5. Continuing your education: What makes sense for you?
6. Making a living: Careers that support the writing life
7. Being teachable
8. Writing 2.0 or, platform-building can be fun
9. Traditional book publishing today: Finding and working with an agent
10. Making the show: They said, "No." Now what? Or, they said, "Yes!" Now what?
11. Non-traditional book publishing: What you need to know
12. Before you go: Why we do this
Appendix
Index
About the author
Stephanie Vanderslice is Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the Arkansas Writer's MFA Workshop at the University of Central Arkansas, USA and is the Chairperson of the Creative Writing Studies Organization. Her column, The Geek's Guide to the Writing Life appears regularly in the Huffington Post. She publishes fiction, nonfiction and creative writing criticism including Can Creative Writing Really Be Taught?: Resisting Lore in Creative Writing Pedagogy, Teaching Creative Writing to Undergraduates: A Guide and Sourcebook Rethinking Creative Writing.
