Is It Hard To Make Arrangements With Yourself

First of all, I’m in Texas so all bets are off. Tomorrow, I crush the hopes and dreams of some forty graduate students and creative writers. And who said being an agent isn’t fun? Plus,  I’m writing from a room that could double as Gertrude’s bedroom for the wine-colored drapes that hang from ceiling to [...]

Those School Girl Days of Telling Tales

As a young college girl, I took a course on comedy with the late and great Charles Ludlam, founder and creative director of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. I also worked backstage on two productions. I learned so much from him, about timing, about timing, did I mention timing? And once, when he sent me and [...]

You Are the Song That the Morning Brings

Dear Betsy, I am a huge fan and I rarely like many people sooo that’s how much I value your presence through your blog. My question: Do you recommend getting “away” for writers? My book is two thirds of the way through the first draft.  For the final push and second draft, I was thinking I really [...]

And Every One Of Them Words Rang True

Twenty-six years ago on a freezing day in late January, I checked myself into a hospital. All I had with me to read was a Robert Frost poem folded into my pocket, given to me by Richard Howard, my beloved poetry teacher. I was long out of the practice of memorizing poems, but I memorized [...]

On The Day That YOu Were Born THe Angels Got Together

A very wise and generous person read my script and had the following insight about my so called unlikeable main character. He said that it wasn’t really his story and that the emphasis was misguided. In fact, I had started the movie with him and it’s really about the female lead. Start with her. He [...]

I Hate To Turn Up Out Of the Blue, Uninvited

 Do you read the Garnet Hill catalogue and think your life might be nice if you were the one really pretty teacher in a large public school? Are you lying to yourself about your desire for fame? Did you remember your father’s birthday, now seven years gone? Are you constantly hungry? Do you think you [...]

Hey, Hey, Mama, Said the Way You Move, Gonna Make You Sweat, Gonna Make You Groove.

I feel like saying something that might be unpopular, but I don’t believe that “characters write themselves,” that they “have minds of their own,” that they “do things you didn’t expect,” etc. To me that’s like saying a marionette moves his own strings, that an onion peels its own layers, or a nose picks itself. [...]

Just A Memory Without Anywhere to Stay

Got another query letter from prison today. It comes stamped on the back with a notice about what to do if you are receiving unwanted correspondence from an inmate. This particular prisoner quoted some of the best bits in The Forest For The Trees to impress upon me why I might like his work. Many [...]

Let’s Go All the Way Tonight NO Regrets Just Love

Dear Ms. Lerner, If you offer a literary agent an exclusive submission without a deadline/end date, how long should a writer wait before submitting elsewhere? Should the submitter notify the agent? The agent and author have no previous contact or professional connections. Many thanks, NAME WITHHELD Dear Exclusive: What is wrong with this picture? You [...]

I’m Not One Of Those Who Can Easily Hide

I am on empty. I am getting in bed with Blood Meridian and calling it a day after I put on my creams. How do you refuel?