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Meg Waite Clayton

Author of the international bestsellers The Postmistress of Paris, The Last Train to London, and 6 other novels

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Top Writing Tips

September 25, 2021 By Meg Waite Clayton

Writing and Placing Opinion Pieces

Ten years ago today, on the 40th anniversary of Sandra Day O'Connor taking her seat as the 1st female Justice of the Supreme Court, I published my first opinion …

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May 1, 2020 By Meg Waite Clayton

Paddling your Bathtub into London: How Great Stories End

I am working through plotting issues myself and returned to these notes from a master class I taught on narrative endings a couple years ago. They are just my …

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John Steinbeck on writing

November 1, 2017 By Meg Waite Clayton

Advice from Steinbeck to Kick Off NANOWRIMO

Today is the first day of NANOWRIMO, wherein some crazy folks try to write an entire novel draft in a month. I confess that is faster that I can write (and …

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January 13, 2016 By Meg Waite Clayton

10 Terrific Quotes from Elizabeth Strout's Fresh Air Interview

May I recommend this interview -- Pulitzer-Prize winner Elizabeth Strout with Terry Gross on Fresh Air -- to anyone who writes, anyone who wants to write, …

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July 3, 2015 By Meg Waite Clayton

Ain’t Nothing Like Him Nowhere

Writer Wins Love Lottery Because this is a writing blog, there is a writing angle here—perhaps the most important writing advice I can give anyone—but it's …

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April 11, 2015 By Meg Waite Clayton

13 Writing Prompts To Get the Ink Flowing

When you want to write but aren't sure how to start... In The Wednesday Sisters, Linda gets everyone writing by spilling her purse out over a picnic table, …

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The Wednesday Daughters galleys with tulips and thesaurus

March 16, 2013 By Meg Waite Clayton

8 Great Tips for Successful Writing Groups

I've just added The Company of Writers by Hilma Wolitzer to my favorite writing books list on the writers tips page of my website, in part because of the great …

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February 16, 2013 By Meg Waite Clayton

10 Suggestions for Writing Dialogue

I did a panel on writing dialogue at the San Francisco Writers' Conference yesterday, and ran out of the handouts I brought. So for those of you who asked for a …

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Journal Avatar to Link Back to Blog Hop

January 31, 2013 By Meg Waite Clayton

A Survival Guide to Writers Conferences: 1. Eat Chocolate for Breakfast

A friend who is heading for a writers' conference next month asked if I had any advice, and since it's not the first time I've been asked: 1. Eat Chocolate for …

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December 12, 2009 By Meg Waite Clayton

2,000 Words or 2:00, and Writing Friends

The history of my writing starts with a little brown lunch bag. Like the character of Linda in my novel, The Wednesday Sisters, my first writing teacher—at a …

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