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shawntowner's review
4.0
An interesting, if somewhat unfocused, collection of musings on the art of writing. It was interesting to see the differences in the the habits and motivations of different authors, like those who do tons of research and those, like Stephen King, who claim to do none. It's also amazing to see just how long it takes to create great art. Some writers talked about how it took 15 years to write a novel, while other can turn out 800 pages in 6 months.
melanie_reads's review
3.0
A validation that I read the books that need to be read, I hold similar thoughts on work but that I simply do not have the drive. There is no character living within me burning to live on the page. End of story. Interesting. Somewhat repetitive. If you're not familiar with these writers I can see where you'd be completely unamused by them.
sarahbowman101's review
3.0
I really can't remember why I picked this up. This is a compilation of answers given by published international authors to questions like "How do you handle interruptions?" and "Do you revise?". I was familiar with about 50% of the authors, and skimming some of the answers was interesting and often funny, but also tedious and boring too. It was interesting that some authors answered the questions about revising as "of course! Every writer revises" to "I never revise, how many authors spend a lot of time revising?". I would only recommend this to writers.
thndrkat's review
4.0
Reads like being at a party with everyone talking at once. A trove of contradictory advice that is heartening in its diversity. Through trial and error, you find what works. We've already heard most of this advice, but somehow it's nice to hear it again.
djrmelvin's review
2.0
This is as much a book for fans of writing as it is a book for aspiring authors. A series of questions are posed to a large (unwieldy if you don't recognize most of the names) of published authors and their answers are are given. Either some of the authors didn't answer all the questions or their answers didn't make the cut, bccause every author doesn't answer every question. That must be were the editing came in, I guess. This is a book about the personal habits and opinions of some writers - that's it. They all have different approaches to their craft, so in the end, this is a book that reassures that there is more than one way to finish a book.
As a reader, I found it interesting to learn a little something about authors whose work I have admired and those I haven't. Strangely enough, there were no surprises. Chabon is an arrogant word slinger and Colm Tóibín is a man who works for a living.
If you're looking for a book about the grind of writing, I'd recommend Steven King's "On Writing". King is in this book, but his nuts and bolts "put your butt in the chair" method is lost among all the artistic self-hype.
As a reader, I found it interesting to learn a little something about authors whose work I have admired and those I haven't. Strangely enough, there were no surprises. Chabon is an arrogant word slinger and Colm Tóibín is a man who works for a living.
If you're looking for a book about the grind of writing, I'd recommend Steven King's "On Writing". King is in this book, but his nuts and bolts "put your butt in the chair" method is lost among all the artistic self-hype.
sazuka's review
Q: What one piece of advice do you wish someone had given you before you began writing your first novel?
Haruki Murakami: I should have used a nom de plum. That is the only thing I regret now.
Haruki Murakami: I should have used a nom de plum. That is the only thing I regret now.
touko's review
Q: What one piece of advice do you wish someone had given you before you began writing your first novel?
Haruki Murakami: I should have used a nom de plum. That is the only thing I regret now.
Haruki Murakami: I should have used a nom de plum. That is the only thing I regret now.
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