Lately, Gotham’s office gets crackly with anticipation as we near the end of the month, when we get to choose the winner of our Twitter #StoriesEverywhere contest.

Day by day, the entries roll in, a trickle turns into a flood — and the stories, they’re good. Picking one involves a spirited debate, every time. Continue reading “Tips for Crafting “Micro” Stories”

“Well, I also do it because it’s fun. I mean, writing is fun. Isn’t it?”

That was Nick Flynn, author of several books including the memoir Another Bullshit Night In Suck City and the forthcoming My Feelings, speaking to a Gotham class recently. The students laughed, some of them a bit ruefully. Continue reading “Writing as Play”

Last week, a Los Angeles jury threw the creative world into a tizzy. It ruled that Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke did not merely admire and emulate Marvin Gaye when they wrote their hit song “Blurred Lines;” it said they copied Gaye’s classic “Got to Give It Up,” violating copyright law. And it ordered them to pay Gaye’s estate $7.4 million. Continue reading “The Laws of Inspiration”