For many years I wrote about fiction, story, belief, ordinary life, and the questions that shaped my work. More than two thousand essays remain here—not because every one represents my current thinking, but because together they tell the story of a writer learning over time.
Search for a subject, browse by month and year, or begin with the most recent writing below.
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The archive begins with the most recent writing. Use the numbered pages below to move backward through time.
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Why Emotional Excess is Essential to Writing and Creativity
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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10 Tips on Writing from Joyce Carol Oates
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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The Quartet of Creativity: 28-Year-Old Susan Sontag on the Four People a Great Writer Must Be
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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The Writer’s Technique in Thirteen Theses: Walter Benjamin’s Timeless Advice on Writing
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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Raymond Chandler on Writing: A Lifetime of Wisdom on the Craft from His Private Letters
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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Jack Kerouac’s List of 30 Beliefs and Techniques for Writing and Life
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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E. B. White on the Role and Responsibility of the Writer
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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What Will Survive of Us Is Love: Helen Dunmore’s 9 Rules of Writing
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
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Joseph Conrad on Writing and the Role of the Artist
I’m currently taking a writing, blogging, and coaching sabbatical due to family health issues. For now, I’ll repost selected articles from my Fiction Writing School. I encourage you…
Richard L. Fricks 