Can you talk a little about how you began to work at the Carnegie Center, and what kind of students you have? What are the common problems you see repeatedly with beginning writers?
I started at the Carnegie Center in 1998 by taking a nonfiction writing class. The Center's director then encouraged me to teach. I found that I enjoyed teaching very much. Gradually, I took on more classes, then accepted a position as writer-in-residence at the Center. Now, a lot of my time is spent working one-on-one with writers of all ages and skill levels.
The biggest challenge for writers, I've found, is giving the necessary time to practice, and to revising. People often see writing as a "talent," but it's really a learned skill that improves the more you do it.
Also, a lot of writers want a piece of writing to come out finished. But first drafts are almost never final drafts — or shouldn't be. It usually takes a second and third revision before it even begins to look good. Hemingway was known to revise some of his writing 50 or 100 times before deciding he'd gotten it "right".
How did you get your appearance on Good Morning America?
My publisher, Simon & Schuster, got me the gig on GMA. It's a great one --a few million people will be watching. With a quality book, a good launch, and my own laser-like focus on marketing over the next few months, I'm optimistic that this book can be a best-seller.
Neil Chethik is an author, speaker and writer-in-residence at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Ky. Chethik is also the author of FatherLoss: How Sons of All Ages Come To Terms With the Deaths of Their Dads (Hyperion, 2001).
You can reach him at his website: www.VoiceMaleBook.com, or through his e-mail: nchet@aol.com
Article comments
1 - Aaman
I think 85% of the men who answered this poll the way they did, probably thought their wives would read it, or told their wives.
That, or else they live in the best of possible worlds
2 - Diane Goullard Parlante
Dear Mr. Chethik, I am enjoying your book, VoiceMale. The varied interviewees approach reflects facts and parallel the diversity that exists on the subject of relationships. I like to read a book by topics as well as from cover to cover, your index satisfies that. Thanks.