How to Write: Advice and Reflections - Hardcover

Rhodes, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688140955 ISBN 13: 9780688140953

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1995

Synopsis

Combines literary advice with a collection of personal vignettes in a guide that places the desire to write over perceived talent. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. 20,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.

About this title

Reviews

Rhodes (The Making of the Atomic Bomb) has enjoyed a long career as a magazine writer and as an author, mainly of verity?his preferred term for nonfiction?but also of some (less heralded) novels. This book has the virtues and defects of a long chat at Rhodes's table: the author offers worthy encouragement for fighting psychological barriers, and useful advice on tools and research. His discussion of voice and structure, though aimed at both writers of fiction and writers of verity, is a bit sketchy for fictioneers. Similarly, while his guidance on writing magazine articles is interesting, his take on the business of writing?after the usual caveats regarding its difficulty?relies a bit much on his happy war stories. Most useful, and unusual in books of this genre, is the author's textured account of the editing process, including his own blow-by-reworked-blow example of an essay-in-the-making. This isn't quite a comprehensive guide but an encouraging companion, especially for those familiar with Rhodes's work.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Books on how to write continue to be published, much as would-be inventors still search for the key to the perpetual-motion machine. Rhodes, the Pulitzer Prize^-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1989), recognizes the ultimate impossibility of his task, which gives him a decided advantage over most of the competition. Mixing impressionistic thoughts on the psychodynamics of writing with very specific advice on everything from using a computer to finding an agent, Rhodes manages to be both inspirational and practical. He speaks eloquently on the relationship of writing (and not writing) to fear, and he shows how the act of writing--not necessarily for publication--offers therapeutic value for the author. On the other hand, he is very frank about what one must do to get published: "Networking ad hoc means, essentially, finding the right strings and pulling them." Rhodes accomplishes here the most one can hope for from a how-to-write book: he gets would-be authors geared up for the hard work that awaits them. Bill Ott

A winner of numerous literary trophies gives advice to aspiring writers.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688140955
• ISBN 13: 9780688140953
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 229