Deb Werrlein

Friendship is My Writing Process - Electric Literature Swapping laptops at coffee shops, asking for ideas, sending emails and texts and voice notes are essential to my art

Thinking of my writer friends in 5 Story Masons and Novel Talk!

Friendship is My Writing Process electricliterature.com/friendship-i... via @electriclit

@debralattanzi.bsky.social @katebrettlewis.bsky.social @wendybeselhahn.bsky.social

So true.

To my 10th grade English teacher, who said, “Make the conclusion count.”

How did The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm land on a banned book list? Was it machine-screened for the d-word in the jacket copy?

“....Indeed, this is what makes the tales from the 1812 and 1815 editions unique--they reflect diverse voices…”

The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest opens Aug 1st! www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

Pencil Me In On first drafts and psychological quirks

Broke my own rule (a little bit) and wrote about writing.

cyberb.space/notes/2025/p...

Thank you Josh - and thanks for sharing!

I read your post. Writing a novel draft with pencils - that is impressive! I just might try it. :)

AI Can’t Gaslight Me if I Write by Hand - Electric Literature There are all kinds of slow movements, slow food, slow families. Perhaps it’s time for slow writing

Something zeitgeist-y going on here. This lovely essay from @debwerrlein.bsky.social just hit my inbox: electricliterature.com/ai-cant-gasl...

I don't have time to keep screenshotting all day from @shannonmattern.bsky.social's article (I already did other QTs) - but THIS RIGHT HERE also needs to be amplified. Yes, our elite universities - not least Penn - need to reckon with what they have wrought...

So good:

My Sister Teaches Me How to Dice an Onion url:https://riverteethjournal.com/beautiful-things/my-sister-teaches-me-how-to-dice-an-onion-2/#comment-7325

Free to Be You and Me. I remember loving the music so much I didn't want it to end. And the idea girls could grow up to do anything they wanted made a huge impression on me. The messaging would probably be prohibited in schools today.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFzM...

Loved this "weird little meta flash piece"!

Literary collective nouns showing a chapter of novelists, a draft of editors, a recommendation of booksellers, a stanza of poets, a borrowing of librarians, a blurb of publicists, an autopsy of critics, and a gruop [sic] of proofreaders.

Literary collective nouns.

My personal favorite is the proofreaders. So clever.

#literary

Thanks so much for reading and sharing!

AI Can’t Gaslight Me if I Write by Hand - Electric Literature There are all kinds of slow movements, slow food, slow families. Perhaps it’s time for slow writing

Excellent essay in @electricliterature.com by @debwerrlein.bsky.social about the gift of longhand writing:
"...if writing is a process of discovery and learning, then what discoveries did I lose by speeding up the process? What connections haven’t I made?"
electricliterature.com/ai-cant-gasl...

AI Can’t Gaslight Me if I Write by Hand - Electric Literature There are all kinds of slow movements, slow food, slow families. Perhaps it’s time for slow writing

My latest on writing and technology. Happy to see it in print @electriclit today!

AI Can’t Gaslight Me if I Write by Hand electricliterature.com/ai-cant-gasl...

An A5-sized typed page of stream-of-consciousness writing, composed on a circa 1980 Smith-Corona typewriter, by Karen J. McLean.

There is a website called “One Typed Page”, to which typewriter enthusiasts submit a daily that is then shared on the website and/or emailed to subscribers.

Here is my inaugural submission. #OneTypedPage

love this (& those margins)! So funny to read it today when I have a piece coming out tomorrow in Electric Lit about reverting to writing longhand after AI started trying to "help" me write. In it, I fondly remember my typewriter, which I think i'll pull out of the closet for a whirl.

Our July issue is live! Read here: pitheadchapel.com/volume-14-issue-7/

Words
@mczyzniejewski.bsky.social
@kimchinquee.bsky.social
RENESHA DHANRAJ
WYLEY FROHLICH JUNGERMAN
TROY ANDERSON
@danbillyc.bsky.social
@theresegleason
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social
BRITTANY REDD
TARA SHEA BURKE

Art
JACELYN YAP

“The Burden of Words,” a Poem by Fatemeh Shams “The Burden of Words” I think of the burden of words how they hollow with repetition. “Evacuation orders,” “Nuclear Bombs,” “Final solutions” I think of the burden of memory— how it storms ba…

“They say to write poetry after atrocity is barbaric / but what else remains?” Read a new poem by Fatemeh Shams.
buff.ly/agCUgUi

Opinion | The U.S. Deported This Chinese Scientist, in a Decision That Changed World History

From @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“It proved an American misstep, fueled by xenophobia, that would forever alter the global balance of power.”

Kathleen Kingsbury, the editor of Times Opinion, tells the cautionary story of a Chinese scientist who was deported from the U.S. during the Cold War.

Breath When the large poodle tried to lick her son’s hand, he cried, “It’s warm! Mama! Dog breath is warm! Not cold like yours!” Mama paused. Her son thought she was frozen inside. She smiled awkwardly at...

"Mama paused. Her son thought she was frozen inside."

Read @jessicaclairehaney.bsky.social's story, "Breath," in our May/June issue:

Chipmunk — Split Lip Magazine I remember the house, can see it even now, though it was over a decade ago when I lived there.

I'm thrilled to have a new piece at Split Lip Magazine.

splitlipthemag.com/memoir/0525/...

Yup. This is me. Especially poignant now, during migration.

This was my favorite book read in 2024. Just devastating.

Trump medicine A spoon full of poison makes America go down

anntelnaes.substack.com/p/trump-medi...

Young Flannery O'Connor standing next to painting of her with peacock

“Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system.”―Flannery O'Connor (born March 25th, 1925)

This morning, FACULTY UNIONS led by @aaup.bsky.social sued the Trump administration over the unlawful funding cuts at Columbia. We will not let the federal government use coercion to rob us of academic freedom and critical research!

So proud of my union!

protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/u...

Let’s talk about the Department of Education! Because I’m going to actually lose my shit if I have to read any more misinformation about it!

One of Trump's main campaign promises was to eliminate the Department of Education, and he's already hard at work fulfilling that promise. Trump: “I want the Secretary of Education to put herself out of a job.” He fired 1300 staffers. He is reportedly drafting an executive order to dismantle the DOE.

Trump constantly says: “We're trying to get the schools back into the states. Let the states run the schools!” This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Department of Education’s function. Its mission statement is, admittedly, a bit stilted: “The Department of Education's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.”

Here’s what it actually does: The Department of Education's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Gathers information about schools and shares that research widely to help improve the quality of education. Highlights important education issues and suggests ways to improve schools. Makes sure everyone has fair access to education and prevents discrimination.

Since it looks like Trump is actually planning to sign an order to dismantle the Department of Education TODAY, this thread has my full illustrated explainer on what the department does (and doesn't) do. With alt text! 1/4

I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky

“How long will I be here?”

“I don’t know your case,” the man said. “Could be days. Could be weeks. But I’m telling you right now – you need to mentally prepare yourself for months.”