Home Articles posted by Terry McDonell

Terry McDonell

Terry McDonell
Terry McDonell has published widely as a journalist, top-edited a number of magazines, and was elected to the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame in 2012. He is the author of The Accidental Life: A Editor's Notes on Writing and Writers and Irma: The Education of a Mother’s Son. He is president emeritus of the Paris Review Foundation and co-founder of Literary Hub. TerryMcDonell.com


Graydon Carter on
The Golden Age of Magazines

Terry McDonell Talks to Legendary Editor About His New Book
March 25, 2025  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

How To Write About Your Mother

Terry McDonell: “I did not set out to write about Irma.”
May 12, 2023  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

“I Never Saw Her Cry.” Terry McDonell Remembers His Mother, Irma

“What passes between a mother and a son is not defined by her love in the moment, but later by the echoes of her motherhood.”
May 1, 2023  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

How Hunter S. Thompson Would Cover Donald Trump

Swap the Name "Trump" for "Nixon" and Let It Rip…
August 3, 2017  By Terry McDonell
8 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: How the Hell Do You Get Paid?

Once Upon a Time, Writers Made Five Dollars a Word
August 2, 2017  By Terry McDonell
3 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: Is Your Novel Actually Fiction or Non?

Truth Can Be Revealed in More Ways Than One
August 1, 2017  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: The Best Way to Deal with Rejection

“I long to hold the poetry editor’s penis in my hand.”
July 27, 2017  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: The Writer I Never Had to Edit

Terry McDonell on the Value of Leaving Well Enough Alone
July 26, 2017  By Terry McDonell
3 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: Will You Tell the Truth?

Terry McDonell on the Deal All Writers Have to Make With Themselves
July 25, 2017  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: On Editing James Salter

Terry McDonell on Working with a "Writer's Writer"
July 20, 2017  By Terry McDonell
2 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: Take Advantage of Your Insomnia

Terry McDonell on the Importance of Taking Nighttime Notes
July 19, 2017  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

So You’ve Decide to Write: What I Learned Editing Hunter S. Thompson

Terry McDonell on the Origin of 'Gonzo' and Late Night Calls from Hunter
July 18, 2017  By Terry McDonell
2 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: What I Learned From Editing Jim Harrison

Part Three of Terry McDonell's Summer Series on Becoming a Writer
July 13, 2017  By Terry McDonell
1 Comment

So You’ve Decided to Write: When to Drown Your Darlings

Part Two in Terry McDonell's Summer Series on How to Be a Writer
July 12, 2017  By Terry McDonell
2 Comments

So You’ve Decided to Write: Advice from a Great and Notorious Editor

Introducing a New Summer Series on Writing from Terry McDonell
July 11, 2017  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments

How to Reject a Writer, and Other Advice For Editors

On Dealing with "Acid-Sucking Pieces of Illiterate Shit" and Holding the Poetry Editor's Penis
September 1, 2016  By Terry McDonell
1 Comment

Terry McDonell Remembers Jim Harrison

"Eat or Die" Was His Motto
March 31, 2016  By Terry McDonell
0 Comments


We Need Your Help:

Become a Lit Hub Supporting Member

Lit Hub has always brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall. But our future relies on you. In return for your contribution, you'll get an ad-free site experience, editors' picks, and our Joan Didion tote bag. Most importantly, you'll keep independent book coverage alive and thriving.