39 Comments
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Max Christie's avatar

I’m eft wondering what a stone fisherman uses for bait. What the he+* does he hope to catch?? Founder? Ees?Haibut???

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Margaret Atwood's avatar

He was petrified by headless woman in the kitchen.

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Neurozach's avatar

Ah, melicious drilk!

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Max Christie's avatar

You’d have to think he’d have been better to find another job!

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Samuél Lopez-Barrantes's avatar

What a treasure to be able to read such humble words by a legend. Your advice on letting manuscripts that aren't meant to be out there float onwards with the wind is particularly helpful. I spent years trying to find the missing letter, only to realize it only existed in the next book.

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Diana Mullins's avatar

I'm oving this post...smi ing at it, as it evokes the wide-grins, wider than most. I will not fai to remember it throughout my week.

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Daniel Martin Eckhart's avatar

Living is doing. It’s all trial and error from our first to our final breath. My heart goes out to those who don’t fail for they are not living.

ovely post, thank you!

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Terry Freedman's avatar

I hope you have kept that typewriter. It would make it very easy for you to write a lipogrammatic novel 😁

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Terry Anderson's avatar

I am *definitely* keeping this Margaret Atwood quote from this article:

"By day, I worked in a stone fisherman’s cottage rented to tourists."

I immediately wondered what kind of stone fish the stone fisherman caught! 😄

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Mark Cohen's avatar

Missed Crass is cute, but a spoonerism rather than an anagram

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Margaret Atwood's avatar

Quite right. Oh no, I failed at Spoonerism!

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Mark Cohen's avatar

It's probably a good thing...I don't think The Weddable Omen or The Tan-Head's Mail would have done very well

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N. M. Scuri's avatar

This is ove y.

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Writing Blab by Paulo Campos's avatar

I believe everyone is a writer; has a story to tell. Why isn’t everyone an author? Here’s the deal.

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Uncle Paul's avatar

Unless I soon hie myself to the garden to confront my annual failure-in-progress, I know I shall end up spending the rest of my day adding l's to words where they might not belong. "The Taol of Pooh"? Yikes!

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Leah Eichler's avatar

Thanks for sharing. Esoterica (based in Toronto!) is working hard on our own dime to support the arts, offering a much needed venue for new and established writers of fiction and non-fiction, a soft critique of their work and beautiful illustrations. Would be thrilled if you could recommend us on your Substack. Looking forward to your speaking engagement later this month.

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Capt Vetrichelvan J (Retd.)'s avatar

Failure is the ladder for success!

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Shelley Ambrose's avatar

Such is ife indeed

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Chris Speechly's avatar

Proof positive that simple failure is more often than not a prelude to more complicated failure.

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Hamish Kavanagh's avatar

I’ve got my own one of those overcomplicated ‘masterpieces’ Its been a bit of a battle to decide between, persevering to the end and letting it fail as it most likely will or walking away like you did. I’d love to think I’ve got a hand maid’s tale waiting in the wings.

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Jim Tobin's avatar

"I segued into writing The Handmaid’s Tale"... and we are grateful for it

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