NaNoWriMo

11 21, 2017

5 writing tips from Paula McLain

By |2017-11-21T06:00:42-05:00November 21, 2017|

Bestselling author and spectacular human Paula McLain visited us for National Novel Writing Month.

She discussed finding inspiration for her bestsellers, The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun, in Hadley Richardson and Beryl Markham, respectively. She also mentioned how a dream about Martha Gellhorn—a war correspondent and Ernest Hemingway’s third wife—inspired her newest novel, Love and Ruin.

She also offered some writing advice for aspiring authors, gleaned from her own life.

  1. You have to be open to inspiration. (“There’s an undeniable, not-subtle-at-all experience that happens to me when I find that inspiration. Now I know to pay attention to that feeling; and if I don’t have it, I’m not going to discover it along the way.”)
  2. If something you’re writing is not working, you can’t force it to work. Before writing Circling the Sun, McLain tried to write novels about Georgia O’Keeffe and Marie Curie. No matter how hard she tried, neither worked out—not because there’s anything wrong with the subject matter, but it didn’t resonate with her like Richardson, Markham, or Gellhorn.
  3. Read what you want to write. (“Read in the genre you want to write in. Read in the genre that’s important to you. Read as if your life depended on it.”)
  4. Keep books that inspire you close at hand. While writing The Paris Wife, those books were Colm Tóibín’s The Master and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours for McLain.
  5. Write your face off.

11 20, 2017

D.M. Pulley returns to talk writing, torso slayings

By |2017-11-20T12:23:01-05:00November 20, 2017|

Award-winning writer D.M. Pulley is returning to Mentor Public Library on Thursday, Nov. 30, to help us conclude National Novel Writing Month.

First, Pulley will lead a session where writers can share and discuss their stories that they’ve written this month at 6:30 p.m. at our Main Branch. They can also decompress and share war stories from a month’s worth of writing.

Then, directly following, Pulley will read from and discuss her newest novel, “The Unclaimed Victim,” which was inspired by the Cleveland Torso Slayings.

Afterward, Pulley will sign copies of her book, which will be available for purchase.

Both the writing session and Pulley’s reading are free and open to the public. However, registration is required. You can sign up for either or both programs on our event calendar or by calling us at (440) 255-8811 ext. 216.

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