Scan barcode
A review by ablotial
The Writing Class by Jincy Willett
4.0
This was a fast, enjoyable read. I needed something light and entertaining and this book delivered. But it was also more intelligent than I was expecting. Ok sure, there were drawings of old ladies masturbating and pranks where 76 pizzas were delivered and stereotypical characters out the wazoo, it was all in good fun. But also, there were some very profound pieces of writing and some damn good writing advice, if you ask me.
One thing I find is that books about writing often annoy the piss out of me. Because they're like "oh there's this AMAZING writer" and then they make the mistake of showing a sample. And it's usually mediocre at best. And I'm like ugh, no. But in this book, the good writing was .. well, good! And there were examples of bad writing that were bad! And there were poems and stories with twists that I didn't catch and was in the dumb part of the class and the students who "got it" were explaining it to ME in addition to the rest of the class and when I finally "got it" I was like OMG THAT IS SO COOL. And arguing over the authors intent... somehow way cooler in this book than it was when I was in high school doing the same thing. I want to be in Amy's writing class!
And then the mystery. At first "The Sniper" was ... malicious but harmless. Nasty comments on people's work. That was fascinating to me. And the process of trying to guess who it was by comparing writing samples. I sort of figured it would end up being
Anyway. Probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it and I recommend it to anyone who has been in a creative writing class. It'll stay on my shelves.
One thing I find is that books about writing often annoy the piss out of me. Because they're like "oh there's this AMAZING writer" and then they make the mistake of showing a sample. And it's usually mediocre at best. And I'm like ugh, no. But in this book, the good writing was .. well, good! And there were examples of bad writing that were bad! And there were poems and stories with twists that I didn't catch and was in the dumb part of the class and the students who "got it" were explaining it to ME in addition to the rest of the class and when I finally "got it" I was like OMG THAT IS SO COOL. And arguing over the authors intent... somehow way cooler in this book than it was when I was in high school doing the same thing. I want to be in Amy's writing class!
And then the mystery. At first "The Sniper" was ... malicious but harmless. Nasty comments on people's work. That was fascinating to me. And the process of trying to guess who it was by comparing writing samples. I sort of figured it would end up being
Spoiler
one of the "throwaway" characters who didn't add much to the story up to that point. That would have been the easy way out. But no, this author was better than that. Although looking back I don't recall a *single* clue that would have pointed me at the actual person... which maybe was the clue I should have been looking for since it's a book. Also because they talked about exactly that with one of the student books, being too obvious with the clues. Meh.Anyway. Probably not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it and I recommend it to anyone who has been in a creative writing class. It'll stay on my shelves.