B3) Long-form Writing in the Age of Instant Media: Staying Alive While Writing a Book

Time:
Saturday, October 27th, 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Location:
Room 301B
Speaker(s):
Annie Murphy Paul
Edward Vilga
Maryn McKenna
Moderator(s):
Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn
Paul Raeburn
Organizer(s):
Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn
Paul Raeburn

Writing a book is a long, contemplative process that requires a lot of quiet thought, intense and extensive reporting, and immersion in the writing process. Building on last year’s workshop on how writers manage their time (“I tweet, I blog, but do I sleep?”), we want to look at the how writers can spend most of their time working on their books, while also taking care of all the other things most of them have to do: Writing magazine pieces to keep food on the table after the initial chunk of the book advance has been spent; blogging to remind the public that you’re alive, even if you’re spending most of your time in oxygen-scarce archives; and maintaining a presence on Facebook and Twitter to cultivate readers for the book. Two of the questions we will try to answer are: How do you put food on the table while writing a book? And how do you keep yourself visible at the same time? Edward Vilga, who coaches creative artists, will offer tips and comment on the other panelists’ approaches to their work.