The Way To Write: A Complete Guide to the Basic Skills of Good Writing

by John Fairfax, John Moat, Ted Hughes (Foreword)

In 1969 the poet John Fairfax and poet and novelist John Moat dreamt up the Arvon Foundation, a venture born out of their frustration that nowhere in Britain were there writing schools where young authors could enrol to learn their craft. The Way to Write is a distillation of their 30 years of involvement with Arvon, which now runs country-wide courses. Fairfax and Moat hold forthright views on the exact use of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs--new vocabulary to anyone who passed through the English and Welsh secondary education systems in the 70s and 80s. They quite rightly claim that as these are the building blocks of sentences, held together by the mortar of punctuation, your carefully constructed literary edifice will come crashing down unless you have learned how to manipulate them to best effect. Their recipe for success? More concrete nouns, fewer adjectives. The book's strength lies in the way Fairfax and Moat work through "before" and "after" examples culled from their students' and other poets' writing. They highlight exactly what they mean when they exhort you to choose precise nouns or edit out extraneous adjectives--you can read the difference for yourself. Fairfax and Moat are very keen on the idea of writer as sorcerer, somebody who weaves spells with words, and this extended metaphor can wear thin over the course of 10 chapters. However, what advice they do give is so sensible that you can forgive them their occasional mystical flights of fancy. Now, go weave your own spell... -- Amanda Cameron

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 6, 1981

About the author

John^^Fairfax

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read lots of poetry-related books, and this one didn't really inspire me to write poetry as intensely as I wished it would (unlike some of the other handbooks that I've read before). Actually, it didn't focus on poetry all that much; it was rather general, needless to say, since the length wouldn't really have the luxury of space to focus on the specifics. But over all, I think it gave a fairly sufficient overview of the craft - I suggest reading this at the beginning of one's poetic endeavor. And when you have an idea about what writing poetry really entails, that's when you move on to more in-depth and specific readings such as The Book of Forms . But the idea of the Arvon thing really, really enthralled me; and I hope that one day, a time like that will also come to my country (when there will actually be enough money to fund something like that, and when there's already a much, much wider appeal of poetry). What I really like about this book is the intricate dissection of the student's poems, with the writers' giving comments on why a certain line or word works or, indeed, doesn't. I wish there had been more of those.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

How To Write by John Fairfax and John Moat doesn't really cover any new ground, for me. There's some interesting stuff about how to use word, some fanciful comparisons to magic that really sound good, but there's no new practical information for a writer. Just the same old advice -- make your own space, write every day, etc, etc. Plus, for a modern writer, it's out of date. There are some things that don't go out of date, but other things do, like references to typewriters and the kind of vanity press publishing that was around when it was written.

[Gareth Mottram · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first how to write book way back when I was a teenager. I still think it's the best for discovering the beauty and power of the English language when writing prose fiction... but I guess that's what these poet types do.

Not really the strongest on things such as character arcs, plotting, pacing or any of the getting published stuff.

[Karen Madej · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a little book, it packs a heck of a punch. I enjoyed Ted Hughes introductory essay and his obvious admiration of what Arvon has achieved.

I believe in the power of words, they can indeed be magical when wielded in the best possible manner.

[Di Vagando · Rating 4 out of 5]

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