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In Writing: Conversations on Inspiration, Perspitration and Creative Desperation
(Hattie Crisell, Granta, £10.99)
I submitted my review of this book to Teach Secondary magazine, an educational magazine in the UK. The first review below is what the magazine published. The second one is what I actually wrote! In substantive terms there is little difference between the two, but you may find it interesting to see what the editor altered.
Published version
The problem with reading books on writing by different authors is that they all tend to be based on one person’s experience, and can frequently contradict each other. Far better is a book like this, which contains multiple writers’ responses to some key questions – including how they find flow, and that old standby of where their ideas come from.
It’s certainly interesting to find out how famous writers go about getting feedback and how they approach re-writes – a potential source of some solace for students, when they learn that even the experts can hate it too.
There’s wisdom here for inexperienced writers around the risks of overwriting and clunky, artificial dialogue.As Crisell herself observes, putting in the effort to ensure that readers have a good experience is simply good manners.
An excellent resource.
Reviewed by Terry Freedman, whose Eclecticism newsletter may be found by clicking that link.
My original version
The problems with buying books on writing by different authors are that each is based on just one person’s experience, they frequently contradict each other, and it can be an expensive pursuit. Far better, in many respects, is a book like this which contains many writers’ responses to some key questions. These include those especially elusive ones: how do we find flow, and where do ideas come from?
It is also interesting to read about famous writers’ views on getting feedback and having to rewrite stuff. Perhaps it will provide some solace to students to learn that even the experts sometimes hate it!
Language, too, is very important, especially as inexperienced writers tend to overwrite and include dialogue that nobody has ever spoken in real life. Indeed, as Crisell herself says, putting in the effort to ensure that the reader has a good experience is simply good manners.
An excellent resource.
