Advice on the Art of Writing
Roberto Bolaño offers "12 Tips on the Art of Writing Short Stories," but good writing is just good writing. Let's take a look at his advice: (1) Never approach short stories one at a time. If one approaches short stories one at a time, one can quite honestly be writing the same short story until the day one dies. This works just as well for college essays. If you write the same essay over and over again, you will get bored and never grow as a thinker (or writer). (2) It is best to write short stories three or five at a time. If one has the energy, write them nine or fifteen at a time. Maybe you won't sit down and write three or five essays at a time, but do write when you feel ENERGIZED, don't write that essay at 3:00 a.m. (4) One must read Horacio Quiroga, Felisberto Hernández, and Jorge Luis Borges. One must read Juan Rulfo and Augusto Monterroso. Any short-story writer who has some appreciation for thes...