Who is Peter Selgin?He teaches writing at Gotham Writers Workshop, Manhattan, Montclair State University, and at the MFA Writing Program at Western Connecticut State University, and holds his own annual writing workshop in Vitorchiano, Italy. He lives in the Bronx, New York, where he is editor of the journal Alimentum: The Literature of Food.
Here is an excerpt from By Cunning & Craft:
"This is a book for serious fiction writers of all levels—from beginner to advanced and beyond, including accomplished authors wishing to fine-tune their craft. It aims to provide actionable advice, and plenty of it, yet offers no glib formulas or panaceas. Those seeking a writing guide that tells them, in so many words, that writing fiction is easy and that anyone can do it, should probably look elsewhere. Such guides exist and are hugely popular. As is so often the case, the truths of the matter are less obviously appealing, and are as follows: that writing fiction is indeed hard, that it takes time and energy and effort, that if everyone could do it, it wouldn't be worth doing; at any rate, it would be no more worth doing than riding a bicycle, or whistling."
"This is a book for serious fiction writers of all levels—from beginner to advanced and beyond, including accomplished authors wishing to fine-tune their craft. It aims to provide actionable advice, and plenty of it, yet offers no glib formulas or panaceas. Those seeking a writing guide that tells them, in so many words, that writing fiction is easy and that anyone can do it, should probably look elsewhere. Such guides exist and are hugely popular. As is so often the case, the truths of the matter are less obviously appealing, and are as follows: that writing fiction is indeed hard, that it takes time and energy and effort, that if everyone could do it, it wouldn't be worth doing; at any rate, it would be no more worth doing than riding a bicycle, or whistling."
visit his website: www.peterselgin.com
