And VFest...

By Dennis McCloskey

English novelist Somerset Maugham said there are three rules for writing the novel. “Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

There is no shortage of people who are willing to “put a flea in your ear” about the best way to become a writer, or how to write a novel. But not everyone enjoys being on the receiving end of advice. Some writers balk at getting advice from other writers. U.S. playwright Lillian Hellman once said that writers are just “fancy talkers about themselves.” She added, rather dismissively: “If I had to give young writers advice I would say don’t listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.”