Jonathan Vatner

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Jonathan Vatner

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Born
in Boston, MA, The United States
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July 2017

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JONATHAN VATNER is the author of THE BRIDESMAIDS UNION (St. Martin's Press, 2022) and CARNEGIE HILL (Thomas Dunne Books, 2019). His fiction has earned praise from People, Town & Country, The New York Post, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. He is the managing editor of Hue, the magazine of the Fashion Institute of Technology and teaches fiction writing at New York University and the Hudson Valley Writers Center. ...more

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Jonathan Vatner A good writer needs both a powerful inner creator and an razor-sharp inner critic. When writing the first draft, the creator needs to be fully present…moreA good writer needs both a powerful inner creator and an razor-sharp inner critic. When writing the first draft, the creator needs to be fully present, and the critic should be kept at bay. When revising, those roles should be reversed. I think writer's block is the result of an oppressive inner critic, who has grown so strong that the inner creator cannot squeeze out a single sentence without being censored.
So how to fix this? One way is just to write aimlessly -- a diary, or a silly story that doesn't matter, or morning pages (a la The Artist's Way). That revs up the creative engine and is often enough to quiet the critic. Another is to examine the critical voice and figure out what lies it's telling you, in the hope of dismantling them.
I've noticed that if I haven't written for a few days, the first day back is torture. I give myself permission for the writing not to be good, but I force myself to put in an hour or two. The next day, my writing always flows.
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Jonathan Vatner I would guess that every writer has the same answer: It's the high you get when the writing seems to create itself, when the characters surprise you a…moreI would guess that every writer has the same answer: It's the high you get when the writing seems to create itself, when the characters surprise you as you're writing them, when you write a sentence that's better than you, and when the world around you has dissolved, leaving nothing but the world you're creating, line by line.
The magic of it is, every writer can reach this high. And the more I write, the better it gets.(less)
Average rating: 3.23 · 1,712 ratings · 422 reviews · 7 distinct worksSimilar authors
Carnegie Hill

3.25 avg rating — 1,285 ratings — published 2019 — 5 editions
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The Bridesmaids Union

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Best Gay Stories 2012

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The Bridesmaids Union: A Novel

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“I think he has a deep sensitivity that others don’t understand, and they hate it. They hate his sensitivity so much they would rather destroy him than understand it.”
Jonathan Vatner, Carnegie Hill

“I think he has a dee sensitivity that others don’t understand, and they hate it. They hate his sensitivity so much they would rather destroy him than understand it.”
Jonathan Vatner, Carnegie Hill

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