Anica Mrose Rissi on Intense Friendships--and Lies--in Fiction

by Anica Mrose Rissi

I grew up in a very small town: the kind of place where everyone knows everything about you, or thinks they do. A place where news travels quickly, and rumors travel faster. Where you have the same classmates from preschool through high school, and many of those classmates’ parents have known one another their whole lives too. It’s a place where neighbors look out for neighbors—and also have their eye on them.

Or so it felt to me as a teenager.

Being an adolescent is all about figuring out who you are and what you believe. But how do you grow into the person you want to be—how do you try out new versions of yourself and move on from things you’ve outgrown—when everyone around you still treats you like the person you were before?

For me, the answer was camp. Every summer, I escaped my normal life for a few blissful weeks, and made new friends who knew me only as the person I was in that place, in that moment. All they heard of my past were the stories I told them. All we were to one another was: everything.

These summer friendships were essential and intense. They allowed me to be what felt like the purest, truest version of myself, and the friendships themselves shaped who I was, both during the summer and after. Including one key friendship that turned out to be built on lies.

One of the themes I explore again and again in my writing is the depths and boundaries of essential and defining friendships, especially female friendships. Inspired by those summers where people who’d known me for so little time seemed to know me best, I wanted to probe the truth of that feeling. What does it mean to really know someone? How well can we even know ourselves? And does a friend who lies show us less or more of who she truly is through the stories she invents?

In Nobody Knows But You, a novel told in news clips, texts, a court transcript, social media posts, rumors, interviews, and unsent letters written by one friend to another in the aftermath of a summer cut short by murder, I dig into these questions. Some of the answers I found surprised me. Others thickened the plot. All of it was ridiculously fun to write.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading it.

Anica Mrose Rissi is the author of more than a dozen books for kids and teens, including the Anna, Banana series; Love, Sophia on the Moon; and Always Forever Maybe. Her essays have been published by The Writer and the New York Times, and she plays fiddle in and writes lyrics for the band Owen Lake and the Tragic Loves.

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5 Best Books for Would-Be Writers

by Dorian Martin

As an aspiring writer, it's your job to seek out knowledge, skills, and inspiration. While you may have the essential talent, you need to practice the craft of writing. You have to dedicate enough time to learning, making mistakes, and improving your skills. One of the best ways for you to do it is to look up to other successful authors and soak up the knowledge they're sharing based on their writing experience.

To help you do that, we’ve put together a list of 5 best books that every would-be writer should read and learn from. Let’s break it down together.

1.     On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

There's no need for any special introduction for Stephen King, the best-selling author who's sold more than 350 million copies worldwide and is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary writers.

In his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King shares both his personal and professional advice, while telling the story of how he shaped his craft of writing.

The book can be seen as part memoir and part a guide for aspiring writers to help them learn about the basic writing tools, shaping their style, finding their stories, and becoming masters of the craft.

He’ll teach you how to write a book that leaves a legacy. The book is truly inspirational and provides practical advice from King himself, which is more than what a would-be writer can ask for.

2.     Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Published in 1994, Bird by Bird is considered to be a modern classic. Anne Lamott shares her step-by-step guide on how to write and pursue a career in writing.

Julia Geller, a writer and editor at BestWritingAdvisor.com, says: “The author shares her personal anecdotes, using humor and authenticity to bring the life of a writer closer to those reading.“

She shares practical advice, such as:

-        managing a day as a writer

-        finding the time to write

-        finding motivation

-        overcoming the writer’s block

It’s a must-read for all aspiring writers who’re looking for relatable content and real-life stories from a writer.

3.     On Writing by Charles Bukowski

Another master of the art of writing, Charles Bukowski, shares his insight and journey through the art of creation.

In his work On Writing, Bukowski shares his collection of letters to publishers, editors, friends, and fellow writers. By showing us the letters, he's showing us his journey on the road to creating art and becoming one of the greatest writers of all time.

Bukowski’s brutally honest confession shows the readers the ups and downs in the life of an artist, and it sends a message to aspiring writers to find motivation, keep working hard, and never give up.

4.     Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Every artist struggles with creativity, and it’s considered to be one of the most common problems writers have to cope with. Luckily, Austin Kleon published this guide with his 10 principles on becoming a true master of your art.

According to Kleon, no work of art is fully original. Instead, artists are influenced and inspired by other works of art, events, things, people, and fellow artists.

But, Kleon teaches the artist to embrace these influences, and find a way to be themselves, find their creativity, and get in touch with their artistic side.

5.     Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey

If you’re looking for a way to learn from the best, look no further. Currey’s book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work is actually a collection of strange, inspiring, and amazing habits of 161 famous artists.

He describes how novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians, navigated their artistic journeys and how they managed to get the work done.

Whether you want to write short stories or novels, you need to read this book.

You’ll be able to read about their:

-        daily rituals

-        obstacles

-        peculiar habits

-        tasks and goals

-        tactics and strategies

Kafka, Karl Marx, Agatha Christie, Woodie Allen, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens, and Pablo Picasso are just some of the 161 artists that you’ll get to read about in this amazing collection of strange habits and brilliant advice.

Final Thoughts

Every aspiring artist needs to find a way to excel and improve every day. Reading the books we've listed above will help you understand the art of writing better and find your own way to become a true artist.

Read the books we’ve shared with you and continue working hard on becoming a writer who is proud of his work.

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Dorian Martin is a freelance writer and a blogger with years of experience covering versatile topics. He specializes in art and creativity, helping artists across the globe find their inspiration and develop creatively. He also works as a writer giving coursework writing help and writes guest posts for blogs in the domain of art

Kat Ellis On Combining Your Ideas & Harrow Lake Giveaway!

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

 Today’s guest for the WHAT is Kat Ellis, a young adult author from North Wales. She writes creepy thrillers, including Harrow Lake, coming this summer from Penguin Random House Children’s. When she’s not writing, Kat can usually be found adventuring in ruined castles and cemeteries, taking photos of weird and wonderful things to inspire her writing.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

My love of horror movies is definitely where Harrow Lake sprang from. There are quite a few horror movie references throughout the book, and the story takes place in a town which was used as the set for a horror movie some 20 years ago called Nightjar. But Harrow Lake underwent several massive changes while I was drafting, and it’s only as I look back that I realize the first draft was actually really close to the plot of Nightjar. I guess it’s true that no writing is ever wasted! (That is a lie. I have reams of old drafts that’ll never see the light of day.)

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I tend to write in layers — I start with the setting before building even a skeletal plot or having any vague inkling of the characters, and then I begin to populate it. I come up with my backdrop, figure out the key markers of the setting (things like the Bone Tree in Harrow Lake where kids hang their lost teeth so the monster won’t get them), then I decide what kind of people would inhabit this place and what they might get up to. The skeleton of the plot tends to come together in the first draft for me, and I flesh it out by going over and over it, adding more layers. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Always. I like figuring out stories as if they’re puzzles, and sometimes it’s hard to see what piece fits where until you’re right in the thick of it. Other times I’ll come up with an interesting character quirk or some new motivation which sends the plot off in an unexpected direction. It’s what I enjoy most about first-drafting (except when I’m on a tight deadline, UGH. Then unruly plots and characters can just get in the bin.) 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Usually, I have 3 or 4 loose story ideas in my head at any one time. Sometimes two of them might merge together. That happened with Harrow Lake, as the original plot merged into the backstory of Nightjar. It also happened with my last novel, Purge, which ended up as a twisty dual narrative that came together pretty neatly (if I do say so myself!) I’ll also happily cannibalize story elements from unfinished projects if I think they’ll work within another story setting.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

In the past, that has depended entirely on which story was calling to me most strongly. Now I decide that together with my editors. I definitely prefer having their input!

I have 8 cats and 1 Dalmatian puppy (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

5?! That is serious goals. I have 2 cats: Cricket has a designated (fleece-lined) desk drawer to sleep in while I work, and Pilot prefers a cardboard box on the floor next to me. Both are ridiculous, but I wouldn’t be without them.

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