Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life

by Maggie Smith

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

With personal anecdotes, writing exercises and a deep-dive into the pillars of creativity, this is a one-stop shop for budding authors from a bestselling voice in literature.

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

New York Times bestselling author and poet Maggie Smith distills creativity and the craft of writing with a practical guide perfect for fans of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird.

Drawing from her twenty years of teaching experience and her bestselling Substack newsletter, For Dear Life, Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Each element is explored through short, inspiring, and craft—focused essays, followed by generative writing prompts. Dear Writer provides tools that artists of all experience levels can apply to their own creative practices and carry with them into all genres and all areas of life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982170844
Publisher:	Washington Square Press
Publication date:	04/01/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Maggie Smith is the award—winning New York Times bestselling author of nine books of poetry and prose, including A Suit or a Suitcase, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Good Bones, Goldenrod, Keep Moving, and My Thoughts Have Wings. She has been widely published, appearing in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Nation, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Best American Poetry, and more. She is the host of The Slowdown. You can find her on social media @MaggieSmithPoet.