Product Description

Top-Notch Writing Advice from Today’s Premiere Writers
*From Glimmer Train--one of today’s most well known literary journals
*Features advice from some of the most accomplished and respected fiction writers today
*Features an illustrated, gifty package that will appeal to any writer

In this exquisite new series from the nation’s leading short fiction literary journal, accomplished authors offer advice and instruction on fiction writing and the fiction writing life that speaks to writers of all experience levels. Compiled from the best of Glimmer Train’s "Writers Ask" quarterly newsletter, this volume contains useful techniques, informed perspectives, and inspired nudges from a wealth of accomplished writers including Margaret Atwood, Ernest Gaines, Julia Alvarez, Jamaica Kincaid, Stephen Dixon, Mary McGarry Morris, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #436274 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 432 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781582974460
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Susan Burmeister-Brown and her sister, Linda B. Swanson-Davies, are the editors of the literary short-fiction quarterly Glimmer Train Stories, the newsletter Writers Ask, and the story collections Mother Knows: 24 Tales of Motherhood and Where Love Is Found. They live in Portland, Oregon with their families.

Customer Reviews

A perfect resource for aspiring and established writers!
I put this book to use the very same week I bought it. One of my creative writing students at the local university where I teach was having problems writing dialogue. When I met with him, I brought along my "Building Blocks" book. In addition to what I had to say, it was great to offer him the advice of some of my favorite writers, including Charles Baxter, Amy Bloom and Dick Bausch. I felt as though I was leading him down the corridors of the ultimate English department, and every door was open.

The excerpts are golden nuggets of writing wisdom: short, conversational and enlightening. I'll definitely consider using this book as a required course text in the future. It covers everything I need to address in my writing class: point of view, voice, place and setting, character, description, use of language, dialogue, etc. - without sounding repetitive or pedantic. The variety of voices, perspectives, interviews and excerpts keep the topics interesting and fresh.

As a writer myself, I've found that the book offers more than just "building blocks." I turn to the book when I'm feeling stuck, and when I need to get a fresh perspective on the craft. It's often helpful to remind myself that even the best writers experience roadblocks and frustrations. Unlike a lot of books on writing, this one tells it like it is, while at the same time offering helpful strategies and techniques -- from writing a novel for the first time to paragraph breaks and punctuation.

Help to make your way
I have read many books on writing fiction, mostly because I am inspired by reading about the creative process. The reason I love this book is that its breadth and variety provide a hundred little windows into the craft of story-telling. Somehow, it's refreshing to see that the experience of writing fiction is wildly different for different people; there's simply not a right or wrong way to approach the work.

As other reviews have said, this would be a terrific book both for students of fiction and for practicing writers who need occasional fresh perspectives. I've shared my copy with my daughter, a teenage writer who is absorbing all she can about the nuts and bolts of writing stories; we both enjoy reading it in bits.

Don't look any further, this book has it all!
What an AMAZING reference. I bought this and the second book within days of each other because I could not get over the amount of GEMS the first one contained, and knew I was in for more literary treasure!

I don't think there is ANY book out there like these, the very best info, insight and wisdom from the very best authors, compiled together in over 400 pages? I love how their opinions often vary but you turn each page completely enthralled with it all.

I can't stop raving about this series and even asked one of the editors about the third book because I am already fiending for it!