Importance of Endings / Minot Publishing “Empire” / Converation with Atwood / Gruen’s Writing

The Importance of Endings
In his Washington Post essay, Philip Kennicott explores the significance of endings to film, but writers might find his essay equally interesting: “The ending of…any narrative bears a disproportionate amount of artistic weight. Endings are the last thing we see, and the thing most likely to stay in the memory. …Art, like life, often passes by in a state of semi-confusion, but a solid ending proves …that the director [or writer] had control all along.”

The Minot Publishing “Empire”
Deborah Soloman of the New York Times sits in the kitchen with the pregnant Eliza Minot and discuss writing. She is one of four Minots (Sam, George, and Susan). Sam has accused the others of exploiting his biography in their novels.

A Conversation with Atwood
Recently Jodi Delong met with Margaret Atwood, whom she refers to as the queen of Can Lit. It’s a good question-and-answer article in the Canadian Chronicle Herald.

Gruen’s Writing
Cheryl Reed of the Chicago Sun-Times discovered that Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants “composes at her desk in the living room, sitting on an exercise ball…, and hiding behind a Chinese screen that might as well be a bull’s eye for her sons’ attentions.”