Craft Week: Book-to-Film Options, Depth in Fiction, Revising, Living in France, and more
Answers to your questions about craft and the writing life
Earlier this week, I invited readers of The Caffeinated Writer to Ask Me Anything. You can find the original post, along with a discussion in the comments section, here.
Craft questions answered in the comments section so far include:
What are the best ways to sort out the muddle (if your novel has somehow dwindled into a disordered or confused state or seems thoroughly unauthentic—the whole thing or just parts of it)? (thanks to Larry Bone, a longtime and active follower and supporter of this newsletter)
How do you know when a manuscript is ready for a developmental edit? (thanks to
, author of the poignant and thought-provoking Substack Introspective Times)What are your favorite books set in San Francisco? (thanks to
, who writes beautifully about the intersection of art and mental health at Create Me Free)How do you go about searching for ideas when your mind is blank or you’re on deadline? (thanks to
, the voice behind the wonderful, record-centric Substack The Vinyl Room, a personal favorite)Have you ever heard/used the term depth in teaching craft? If so, what does it mean to you? (thanks to Larry Keeton)
And a question about why we writers sometimes find it so hard to find something to write about, with so much going on in the world (thanks to Karl Muller, who writes about editing and writing at
).
Thank you again for your questions! You can ask more in the comments section of this post or in the original post.
Today, I’d like to share with you a question—or a series of questions—that came in via email from a reader named Laura. (If you replied to my “Ask Me Anything” post via email, I’ll be responding in a separate post.)
Hello Michelle,
You mention film options. Is that related to turning novels or other writing into screenplays or some other aspect of film?