Yanyi

14 Oct 2020 • 2 min read

The Writing: How do you write when you have "nothing to say?"

Hi everyone, For those of you outside the US, the next thirty days in the US are going to be particularly harrowing. So this week’s question is all about hope: What strategies do you use when you have “nothing to say?” As usual, I’ll be here for 45

11 Oct 2020 • 6 min read

‘Am I Too Old to Emerge?’

Author’s note: Since I started The Reading this summer, I’ve had the joy of giving away the help I wish I had had when I first started writing. Next month, I’m going to start offering subscriptions. Your support would help me stay independent for all that I

7 Oct 2020 • 1 min read

The Writing: What tools or apps have radically changed (or enhanced!) your writing practice?

Hi everyone, I’ve found that part of the interest with writers’ writing processes will land, too, on the ways that we are able to write, revise, and read depending on our technology of the day. So I thought it’d be fun to hear from everyone. In the spirit

4 Oct 2020 • 9 min read

‘I’m Successful, But I Feel Like a Fraud.’

Your power is uncertainty.

30 Sep 2020 • 1 min read

The Writing: What's the most important thing you took away from doing (or not doing) an MFA?

Hi everyone, As mentioned on Sunday, if you’d like to answer one question to help me nail down my next offerings or be on the pilot list for them, please do! The survey should work properly this time. :) To end this series on the MFA (#1, #2, #3, #4,

27 Sep 2020 • 6 min read

‘When Will I Know That I’m Good Enough?’

Goodness is a pyramid scheme.

23 Sep 2020 • 1 min read

The Writing: Should I Get an MFA...if I want a writing community?

Today, I’ll be reading live at The Brooklyn Rail at 13:00 EST (e.g. right after this). Continuing the MFA series (#1, #2, #3, #4), this week’s question: Should I Get an MFA...if I want a writing community? Answer below. As usual, I’ll be here

20 Sep 2020 • 6 min read

‘How Do I Feel Less Lonely?’

Loneliness is a condition of being your only original.

16 Sep 2020 • 2 min read

The Writing: How do you negotiate the workshop gaze?

Hi everyone, This week’s question continues the MFA series (#1, #2, #3) and is inspired by a response by JinJin to the my first writing class thread on Twitter from a few weeks again. How do you negotiate the workshop gaze? This question speaks specifically to the ways that

13 Sep 2020 • 9 min read

‘I Hate Hating When My Friend Gets Ahead of Me!’

Your power is precious. Do what responds to it.

9 Sep 2020 • 3 min read

The Writing: What's the best feedback you've ever received in a writing workshop? How do you give and receive it?

Hi everyone, Thanks for your patience as I missed my own deadline at noon today whilst sweatily unloading a moving trailer. I can proudly inform all of you that I own exactly 14 “small” boxes of books of equally heavy weight and they are all towering behind me in my

6 Sep 2020 • 2 min read

‘Is the Bird I Am Holding Living or Dead?’

Another kind of letter.

1 Sep 2020 • 4 min read

The Writing: Should I get an MFA if...I live in New York City?

The end of summer has finally reached me and I’m here a day earlier than usual because of my moving and new class schedule. Today, I’m continuing the MFA series. You can read the first installment here: Should I get an MFA if…I want structure around my

30 Aug 2020 • 8 min read

‘I Can’t Bring Myself to Write Anymore.’

Now is not a time to be alone.

26 Aug 2020 • 3 min read

The Writing: Should I get an MFA if...I want structure around my writing?

Today I’m kicking off a series of answers about and around getting MFAs. I tried to answer this week’s answer in one go and it ballooned into something longer than one of my Sunday letters (I hadn’t even finished). So, I’ll be answering this question in