Write The Book: Conversations on Craft

Vermont Author and former WTB Co-Host Gary Miller , whose new nonfiction book for students and their teachers is There's No Way to Do It Wrong!: How to Get Young Learners to Take Risks, Tell Stories, Share Opinions, and Fall in Love with Writing .  Gary generously offered us one of his many writing prompts to use for a Write the Book Prompt today. And that prompt is to begin with the sentence, “Th...

Vermont Poet Ralph Culver , whose new collection is A Passable Man (Mad Hat Press). In his poem, "Tableau," Ralph Culver writes about one person sharing a space with two other versions of himself, presumably over time (though this is never stated overtly). For a Write the Book Prompt, try experimenting with a similar moment that captures multiple expressions of one person - perhaps three ages, thr...

Interview with the poet Maggie Smith , whose new collection of poems, is Goldenrod ( One Signal ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt, suggested by my guest, Maggie Smith, is based on the work of Joe Brainard, who wrote the book I Remember. The book is essentially prose poetry, and each line begins with the words “I remember.” Maggie says that the idea is that if you do that over a couple of pages...

An interview from the archives with the author Jessica Hendry Nelson , who has a new book out - co-authored with fellow former Write the Book Guest Sean Prentiss : Advanced Creative Nonfiction: A Writer's Guide and Anthology , just out from Bloomsbury . During this interview, we talked about her memoir, If Only You People Could Follow Directions ( Counterpoint ). This week’s Write the Book Prompt...

Vermont Author Nancy Hayes Kilgore , in a conversation about her new novel, Bitter Magic ( Sunbury Press ). As we mentioned during our interview, one character who Nancy Hayes Kilgore describes in Bitter Magic is the devil himself. He appears to Isobel Gowdie in a spot where a tree had stood only moments before. She depicts him as a blonde man wearing green, but during their encounter he changes....

An interview from the archives with consultant and teacher Carolyn Conger, PhD , about her book Through the Dark Forest: Transforming Your Life in the Face of Death ( Plume ).  This week’s Write the Book Prompt was inspired by the book, Through the Dark Forest: Transforming Your Life in the Face of Death. No matter where you are in life - age-wise, health-wise, or otherwise - this week consider wh...

Poet, editor, scholar, and musician Tony Trigilio , whose new collection is Proof Something Happened , winner of the 2020 Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize . This week’s Write the Book Prompt was generously suggested by my guest, Tony Trigilio. This prompt is adapted from John Daido Loori's The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life. Sit with an object/memory/experience until it begins to reveal...