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Break, Blow, Burn, and Make: A Writer's Thoughts on Creation
When a writer and the Creator work together, the universe is set in order.
Centuries ago, sound theology and good fiction were friends and not strangers. Decades ago, authors strove not for self-expression and self-disclosure but for a mastery of craft and language and books that transformed the reader with wisdom and love. In more recent years, the old ideals have been exchanged for lesser ones.
Few guides to writing, which tend to focus on mechanics, point of view, and plot, address the more important matters of meaning, depth, and heart. But it is the latter qualities that make a book a blessing and gift to both writer and reader. Like Christ’s invitation to follow, they demand a risk and sacrifice of the self and all it holds dear. Writers from George MacDonald to James Baldwin understood this, but in recent years this understanding has been lost. Making old things new, this book proposes an ethics of reading, writing, and living based on truth and love.
Break, Blow, Burn, & Make returns the literary conversation to the practices of co-creation with God. Part bugle call, part compass for writing and for life, and part love song to the books that set us on fire, it offers those who are willing to receive it the courage to live, read, and write more deeply and honestly.
Centuries ago, sound theology and good fiction were friends and not strangers. Decades ago, authors strove not for self-expression and self-disclosure but for a mastery of craft and language and books that transformed the reader with wisdom and love. In more recent years, the old ideals have been exchanged for lesser ones.
Few guides to writing, which tend to focus on mechanics, point of view, and plot, address the more important matters of meaning, depth, and heart. But it is the latter qualities that make a book a blessing and gift to both writer and reader. Like Christ’s invitation to follow, they demand a risk and sacrifice of the self and all it holds dear. Writers from George MacDonald to James Baldwin understood this, but in recent years this understanding has been lost. Making old things new, this book proposes an ethics of reading, writing, and living based on truth and love.
Break, Blow, Burn, & Make returns the literary conversation to the practices of co-creation with God. Part bugle call, part compass for writing and for life, and part love song to the books that set us on fire, it offers those who are willing to receive it the courage to live, read, and write more deeply and honestly.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published June 11, 2024
20 people are currently reading
2111 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 10, 2024
How do you write an adequate review for a book that has become one of your top books of all time? Break, Blow, Burn, & Make is simply astonishing. I have never read a book on writing and creating and faith that so radically and richly states what I have thought myself (for many years) while challenging me to go deeper with my craft, my vocation, and my pursuit of God in my work. I picked this book up on a whim, and I feel forever changed by it. I wept at parts, I think I underlined at least half of it, and I will be referring to it and recommending it for years to come. There are not nearly enough books that address the vocation of fiction writing from a Christian perspective. If you are a Christian and a writer—or even remotely interested in such things—put this book on your to-read list today!
November 17, 2025
By far the best nonfiction book I've read all year. And yes, it took me all year to read because I savored this book so slowly. This is a book about art and making and creating and specifically doing all those things as a writer, but the depth of the content makes this something that I could see being more universally appealing to anyone wanting to live faithful with the gifts of their hands and mind.
These words encouraged me to slow down, to do the real and hard work of making and remaking, and to remember that many people will not ever do that. Much of the art and media the people want to consume is easy and requires little to nothing of the reader or observer. And yet the art I want to make, the creative works that are worth the work, should require something of another, that participation together in something beyond entertainment.
I underlined and annotated throughout this entire book. There's no way that I could choose a favorite line or quote; instead I recommend reading this for yourself. But with a pen and an open mind. I had to put the book down for a few months when I knew my brain was too tired to fully grasp what was written here, and I'm so glad that I came back to these words.
This is a book to own, a book to reread, a book to live.
These words encouraged me to slow down, to do the real and hard work of making and remaking, and to remember that many people will not ever do that. Much of the art and media the people want to consume is easy and requires little to nothing of the reader or observer. And yet the art I want to make, the creative works that are worth the work, should require something of another, that participation together in something beyond entertainment.
I underlined and annotated throughout this entire book. There's no way that I could choose a favorite line or quote; instead I recommend reading this for yourself. But with a pen and an open mind. I had to put the book down for a few months when I knew my brain was too tired to fully grasp what was written here, and I'm so glad that I came back to these words.
This is a book to own, a book to reread, a book to live.
July 13, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Worthy Publishing for an advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
I randomly stumbled across this book as I thumbed through available titles on Netgalley. This book is hard to describe; it's so different from nearly anything I've read before. Essentially, it's a guide on viewing the act of writing as co-creating with our Creator, God. It's an ode to the responsibility and serious undertaking that is writing when approached with the intent to glorify God. And it's in some ways, a treatise of the ethics of writing. Which... all sounds mind-numbingly boring. But it's not.
The author touches on the fear of today's writers due to cancel culture and the sharp decline of creative and courageous work we've seen as a result.
Many readers, however, and at least a few writers, are preoccupied with mirror work. Such readers approach books as if they were a magic mirror, not asking for transformation, but for reinforcement of preexisting beliefs. Are their opinions echoed point for point? Are they personally reflected in the book, and if so, are they represented favorably? If they're not made to feel good about themselves, or told they are the fairest in the land, these readers feel entitled to punish the author.
The author references "paranoid reading" whereby the reader enters the material searching, if not hoping, to find something offensive and condemnable... while this has become a popular pastime of the modern critical race and queer theorists, puritanical readers are no less guilty as they also can enter every book searching for a moral that is executed according to their standards. This becomes apparent when they start dividing authors and books, into the elect or the damned, proclaiming this or that path to the salvation of the soul, and imposing orthodoxies or punishing heresies.
The next quote is fantastic, and I copied it here as I just don't want to forget it. The last sentence in this quote shook me. I'm a psych nurse and the leader of my unit. I DO inherently view empathy as a positive trait, but after reflection of this quote recognized the truth to it. It's a skill. And sometimes this skill CAN work against us. Simply feeling empathy does not indicate the need to follow after it. Sometimes you have to fire the single mom who put a patient in danger because of willfully choosing not to follow policy. Ignoring the pang of empathy to execute a termination does not make someone evil or heartless. Empathy is a skill that can further, or hinder, necessary action.
Our willingness to recognize other peoples' human rights must not be based upon transient and subjective emotions aroused by storytelling because storytelling is just as capable of arousing fear, rage, and hatred towards individuals and groups and cutting off our awareness of others humanity, as it is capable of doing the opposite. The recognition and codification, in protection of human rights, must instead be based upon wisdom justice and fairness which are not altered by changes in emotional valance. A more fundamental mistake is seeing empathy as a positive virtue rather than a neutral, useful skill.
And finally:
We are responsible for doing the work set before us to the best of our ability. The world's reception of our work is not our concern. Ah-men, bruh-thah.
This book is a work of art in itself. I could have done without several sweeping generalities about human behavior and society that, while true in part, should have used more specificity. But overall, I felt inspired and moved to write again after a long hiatus. This book is an excellent reminder that writing is not just an indulgent pastime. It's a calling and responsibility if one is gifted and led to put pen to paper.
I'd rate this a G.
Original review posted 7/6/24.
I randomly stumbled across this book as I thumbed through available titles on Netgalley. This book is hard to describe; it's so different from nearly anything I've read before. Essentially, it's a guide on viewing the act of writing as co-creating with our Creator, God. It's an ode to the responsibility and serious undertaking that is writing when approached with the intent to glorify God. And it's in some ways, a treatise of the ethics of writing. Which... all sounds mind-numbingly boring. But it's not.
The author touches on the fear of today's writers due to cancel culture and the sharp decline of creative and courageous work we've seen as a result.
Many readers, however, and at least a few writers, are preoccupied with mirror work. Such readers approach books as if they were a magic mirror, not asking for transformation, but for reinforcement of preexisting beliefs. Are their opinions echoed point for point? Are they personally reflected in the book, and if so, are they represented favorably? If they're not made to feel good about themselves, or told they are the fairest in the land, these readers feel entitled to punish the author.
The author references "paranoid reading" whereby the reader enters the material searching, if not hoping, to find something offensive and condemnable... while this has become a popular pastime of the modern critical race and queer theorists, puritanical readers are no less guilty as they also can enter every book searching for a moral that is executed according to their standards. This becomes apparent when they start dividing authors and books, into the elect or the damned, proclaiming this or that path to the salvation of the soul, and imposing orthodoxies or punishing heresies.
The next quote is fantastic, and I copied it here as I just don't want to forget it. The last sentence in this quote shook me. I'm a psych nurse and the leader of my unit. I DO inherently view empathy as a positive trait, but after reflection of this quote recognized the truth to it. It's a skill. And sometimes this skill CAN work against us. Simply feeling empathy does not indicate the need to follow after it. Sometimes you have to fire the single mom who put a patient in danger because of willfully choosing not to follow policy. Ignoring the pang of empathy to execute a termination does not make someone evil or heartless. Empathy is a skill that can further, or hinder, necessary action.
Our willingness to recognize other peoples' human rights must not be based upon transient and subjective emotions aroused by storytelling because storytelling is just as capable of arousing fear, rage, and hatred towards individuals and groups and cutting off our awareness of others humanity, as it is capable of doing the opposite. The recognition and codification, in protection of human rights, must instead be based upon wisdom justice and fairness which are not altered by changes in emotional valance. A more fundamental mistake is seeing empathy as a positive virtue rather than a neutral, useful skill.
And finally:
We are responsible for doing the work set before us to the best of our ability. The world's reception of our work is not our concern. Ah-men, bruh-thah.
This book is a work of art in itself. I could have done without several sweeping generalities about human behavior and society that, while true in part, should have used more specificity. But overall, I felt inspired and moved to write again after a long hiatus. This book is an excellent reminder that writing is not just an indulgent pastime. It's a calling and responsibility if one is gifted and led to put pen to paper.
I'd rate this a G.
Original review posted 7/6/24.
Read
October 11, 2024Given what she says about our culture of starred reviews, I won't be giving this book a rating. I may not do it for any book going forward. You can gather how I feel about it from how I speak about it.
I don’t know if I have the words to describe what this book has done for me and to me. But I’ll go ahead and try anyway, for the sake of pointing others towards it.
To call it “inspiring” doesn’t do justice to the whole work of chastening, awakening, and rejuvenating that she has accomplished here. With “Jewel Box,” her short story collection, E. Lily Yu became a new favourite author. With this, she has become a companion and—dare I say—a mentor to my creative life.
“To inspire human beings with grace, love, and wisdom—to plant a pale spark in another person’s spirit, and breathe upon it, that the soul might quicken to flame—this is and has always been the unspoken, unwritten duty of writers, artists, and God. James Baldwin, paraphrasing a friend, describes the commission in this way: if you are marked as an artist, you bear the responsibility of lightening the darkness in which many, many people live, although those people are strangers, and some may try to kill you. Baldwin’s friend was encouraging an actor to play a role he had been avoiding. Baldwin himself was writing to the body of true artists, who acknowledge their calling and pay the costs. But he might as well have been addressing Christ. In a very real sense, the commission is the same.” (Ch 1, An Absence Shaped Like Flame)
She goes on to exhort us that the literary life, whether reader or writer, is one of love and attention to the world and to people. It is a life open to transfiguration, a surrender to being made new. The title is a line from one of John Donne’s holy sonnets and I could not stop thinking about it every day I’ve been reading this book.
I don’t know if I have the words to describe what this book has done for me and to me. But I’ll go ahead and try anyway, for the sake of pointing others towards it.
To call it “inspiring” doesn’t do justice to the whole work of chastening, awakening, and rejuvenating that she has accomplished here. With “Jewel Box,” her short story collection, E. Lily Yu became a new favourite author. With this, she has become a companion and—dare I say—a mentor to my creative life.
“To inspire human beings with grace, love, and wisdom—to plant a pale spark in another person’s spirit, and breathe upon it, that the soul might quicken to flame—this is and has always been the unspoken, unwritten duty of writers, artists, and God. James Baldwin, paraphrasing a friend, describes the commission in this way: if you are marked as an artist, you bear the responsibility of lightening the darkness in which many, many people live, although those people are strangers, and some may try to kill you. Baldwin’s friend was encouraging an actor to play a role he had been avoiding. Baldwin himself was writing to the body of true artists, who acknowledge their calling and pay the costs. But he might as well have been addressing Christ. In a very real sense, the commission is the same.” (Ch 1, An Absence Shaped Like Flame)
She goes on to exhort us that the literary life, whether reader or writer, is one of love and attention to the world and to people. It is a life open to transfiguration, a surrender to being made new. The title is a line from one of John Donne’s holy sonnets and I could not stop thinking about it every day I’ve been reading this book.
June 11, 2024
The title of this book comes from John Donne's "Batter my heart three-person'd God" sonnet, so you know from the outset you're in for a banger. E. Lily Yu does not disappoint, bringing the fire, which-as she writes in chapter one--"burns through our preconceptions and our whole way of living, and increases the complexity, order, and richness of our lives."
This is indeed a bold book. The author has the audacity to claim that the last decade of (Christian) publishing has been a dearth of truly worthy writing. (I was reminded of Marilynne Robinson's nonfiction essays, in her willingness to state bold convictions but with lyricism and grace. The mention of Marilynne Robinson of course immediately refutes Yu's claim, but not in that it is at least somewhat hyperbolic.) I thought it was beautifully written ("the biblical promise of a land flowing with milk and honey is not an exemption from stings or labor, but a guarantee of both"), and I gobbled it up over four days.
The book has an eclectic eccentricity, touching on Christian epistemology, a theory of literary reception, writing advice, and mostly Christian spirituality. I'm not one prone to read books on The Writing Life or Being A Creative, but this is in many ways one of those book (and one in which she names omphaloskepsis as a real problem of such books).
The chapter on vocation is worth the book alone: "Each one of us has been placed on this planet to do at least one beautiful thing that no one else is capable of doing, as long as we assent to that purpose and the preparation, discipline, and long working out of it."
Some quotes from the ARC I received through NetGalley:
"Prioritizing empathy over responsibility and integrity creates leaders who are unable to set limits on other people’s behavior or make hard decisions because they are reluctant to let others feel any discomfort or pain."
"Reading should not be confused with cultivating integrity, which is far harder."
"We are responsible for doing the work set before us to the best of our ability. The world’s reception of the work is not our concern."
"The artist dies to self, burns, and becomes transparent not out of self-hatred but out of love, so that something greater than the self might come into being."
"Used rightly, language hallows. It concentrates life and attention to life, reminds us of what is holy, and leaves us alert, awake, and startled by the wonder of the world and the word."
"To apprentice oneself to a master artist, past or present, single or several, is the beginner’s first step toward excellence. Because I know no better artist than the first Creator, the first Artist, the Author and Perfector, who dreamed and then exploded nothingness into everything, it is at the door to His workshop that I am presently knocking."
This is indeed a bold book. The author has the audacity to claim that the last decade of (Christian) publishing has been a dearth of truly worthy writing. (I was reminded of Marilynne Robinson's nonfiction essays, in her willingness to state bold convictions but with lyricism and grace. The mention of Marilynne Robinson of course immediately refutes Yu's claim, but not in that it is at least somewhat hyperbolic.) I thought it was beautifully written ("the biblical promise of a land flowing with milk and honey is not an exemption from stings or labor, but a guarantee of both"), and I gobbled it up over four days.
The book has an eclectic eccentricity, touching on Christian epistemology, a theory of literary reception, writing advice, and mostly Christian spirituality. I'm not one prone to read books on The Writing Life or Being A Creative, but this is in many ways one of those book (and one in which she names omphaloskepsis as a real problem of such books).
The chapter on vocation is worth the book alone: "Each one of us has been placed on this planet to do at least one beautiful thing that no one else is capable of doing, as long as we assent to that purpose and the preparation, discipline, and long working out of it."
Some quotes from the ARC I received through NetGalley:
"Prioritizing empathy over responsibility and integrity creates leaders who are unable to set limits on other people’s behavior or make hard decisions because they are reluctant to let others feel any discomfort or pain."
"Reading should not be confused with cultivating integrity, which is far harder."
"We are responsible for doing the work set before us to the best of our ability. The world’s reception of the work is not our concern."
"The artist dies to self, burns, and becomes transparent not out of self-hatred but out of love, so that something greater than the self might come into being."
"Used rightly, language hallows. It concentrates life and attention to life, reminds us of what is holy, and leaves us alert, awake, and startled by the wonder of the world and the word."
"To apprentice oneself to a master artist, past or present, single or several, is the beginner’s first step toward excellence. Because I know no better artist than the first Creator, the first Artist, the Author and Perfector, who dreamed and then exploded nothingness into everything, it is at the door to His workshop that I am presently knocking."
Read
December 2, 2024Intelligence does not necessarily confer condescension, but in Yu’s case it does and her book is worse for it.
Were it not for this disposition, the book's reasonable deficiencies might be overlooked. Instead, by the author’s own standard, they demand to be read as hypocrisy — condemning “paranoid reading,” then engaging in paranoid speaking; demanding precision, then pitting its thesis against straw arguments; warning about the dangers of inaccurate writing and fact-checking, then referencing a Bible verse that doesn’t exist, sourced from a typo in a secondary source.
In between the book’s litany of scolds, there were ideas that I found genuinely moving and convicting, but the book is so overwrought with self-importance that there were also several times while reading where I audibly said, “Girl, be serious!” So there’s that. In the end, the book did get me to delete all social media from my phone so, maybe it wasn’t all bad.
Were it not for this disposition, the book's reasonable deficiencies might be overlooked. Instead, by the author’s own standard, they demand to be read as hypocrisy — condemning “paranoid reading,” then engaging in paranoid speaking; demanding precision, then pitting its thesis against straw arguments; warning about the dangers of inaccurate writing and fact-checking, then referencing a Bible verse that doesn’t exist, sourced from a typo in a secondary source.
In between the book’s litany of scolds, there were ideas that I found genuinely moving and convicting, but the book is so overwrought with self-importance that there were also several times while reading where I audibly said, “Girl, be serious!” So there’s that. In the end, the book did get me to delete all social media from my phone so, maybe it wasn’t all bad.
January 2, 2025
This is the book nearest to my heart. I don't know how else to say it. E. Lily Yu must know exactly what it is I am searching for with all of these books I keep reading. I obviously dedicate a great deal of time to reading, but I also dedicate an absurd amount of time to curating my books--seeking good ones, reserving them at the library and on libby, looking for them at bookstores, reading about books, listening to podcasts, etc. And that is all in addition to my day job, which is teaching classic books to High School students (and I teach grades 9-12). I live and love books at all times in all possible ways. If I could ingest them or take them intravenously, I'd probably do it.
And I just couldn't stop marking passages (with book darts! It's a library copy) in this book because she just GETS it. She gets why stories, why sentences, why words mean so much to me. She knows what I want in a book and what I can't stand in a book. She knows what I'm looking everytime I open a new book with all the hope in the world that this will be THE book. I couldn't stop texting quotes to my friends. I couldn't stop writing down quotes on the page. I most definitely need to buy and consume this book again, this time in a copy I can keep.
Listen, I don't think I can oversell this book. If you are enchanted by words, I think you will find E. Lily Yu to be a treasured guide in your pursuit of more beautiful words. Her insights are precious. Her longings are my longings. And I knew from the first paragraph I'd made a new friend and conversation partner. Call me obsessive; it's probably true. But E. Lily Yu gets it.
And I just couldn't stop marking passages (with book darts! It's a library copy) in this book because she just GETS it. She gets why stories, why sentences, why words mean so much to me. She knows what I want in a book and what I can't stand in a book. She knows what I'm looking everytime I open a new book with all the hope in the world that this will be THE book. I couldn't stop texting quotes to my friends. I couldn't stop writing down quotes on the page. I most definitely need to buy and consume this book again, this time in a copy I can keep.
Listen, I don't think I can oversell this book. If you are enchanted by words, I think you will find E. Lily Yu to be a treasured guide in your pursuit of more beautiful words. Her insights are precious. Her longings are my longings. And I knew from the first paragraph I'd made a new friend and conversation partner. Call me obsessive; it's probably true. But E. Lily Yu gets it.
September 27, 2024
Do you like reading? Do you care about books? E. Lily Yu holds reading and writing in high regard. Her book sort of shook me awake and challenged me to take my time spent reading more seriously.
I’m not sure why, but this is the second book on writing that I’ve read in the past month, and this may be incredibly naive, but I never imagined what a holy and high calling this work of writing is to an author.
Certainly one of (if not the most) thought-provoking and convicting books I’ve read this year. I got a copy from the library but I want to buy this book to own. Highly recommend.
Some gems that I’m still thinking about…
“Reading should not be confused with cultivating integrity, which is far harder…
Reading will not save us. Books will not save us, except for the very few that teach us to hunger for wisdom and truth. This is not to dismiss the reading of books for pleasure. Pleasure is necessary; it eases our burdens and lightens our days. But restricting one’s reading to books that seek only to entertain, that do not convict, transform, or challenge the reader, is not far removed from living a life dissipated in other pleasures and entertainments. It is to starve oneself of what is essential. It is a refusal to grow.” (Pages 51-52).
I’m not sure why, but this is the second book on writing that I’ve read in the past month, and this may be incredibly naive, but I never imagined what a holy and high calling this work of writing is to an author.
Certainly one of (if not the most) thought-provoking and convicting books I’ve read this year. I got a copy from the library but I want to buy this book to own. Highly recommend.
Some gems that I’m still thinking about…
“Reading should not be confused with cultivating integrity, which is far harder…
Reading will not save us. Books will not save us, except for the very few that teach us to hunger for wisdom and truth. This is not to dismiss the reading of books for pleasure. Pleasure is necessary; it eases our burdens and lightens our days. But restricting one’s reading to books that seek only to entertain, that do not convict, transform, or challenge the reader, is not far removed from living a life dissipated in other pleasures and entertainments. It is to starve oneself of what is essential. It is a refusal to grow.” (Pages 51-52).
June 22, 2025
4.5 stars, not because it is a perfect book,* but because it is an alive book, a book in which many sentences seem to be written with tongues of fire.
*(while E. Lily does not seem to share puritan theology, I was remained a fair bit of intensity of the puritan writers I used to read back in the day. I often wanted to say to E. Lily, “relax! take a Sabbath! and get yourself into community!” But we all have our quirks and blind spots, don’t we.)
*(while E. Lily does not seem to share puritan theology, I was remained a fair bit of intensity of the puritan writers I used to read back in the day. I often wanted to say to E. Lily, “relax! take a Sabbath! and get yourself into community!” But we all have our quirks and blind spots, don’t we.)
June 8, 2024
“Break, Blow, Burn & Make: A Writer’s Thoughts on Creation“ by E. Lily Yu is a book for writers and creators. Though aimed toward writers, it contains much wisdom for believers as Yu reminds us of how often the writer or artist’s call mirrors that of the Christian.
Topics are weaved alongside an admonition to deepen one’s relationship with God. It focuses on what should matter most in writing: depth, meaning, and a heart creating in sync with God, the Creator of all. This book truly delivers “the courage to live, read, and write more deeply and honestly.”
This book provoked me to more meticulously curate my reading list and to hone my writing to God’s glory. By this and the book’s wisdom and inspiration, it has an unmistakable place among my favorites!
Highlights:
“Many readers whose expectations have been shaped by screens expect a similar kind of spoon-feeding when reading books. They embrace stories that are easily digestible, with clearly labeled characters and little ambiguity.”
“Artist or Christian, when we eat and drink of the divine life that reconfigures our own . . . we become so many trees beside that river that proceeds from the throne of God, withstanding drought, fire, and frost, each year putting forth the soft green signs of resurrection.”
“Opening a book, we sink into a separate place in our own being, sometimes so deeply that the concrete world fades from our perception. . . if the author has mastered the craft and herself, if she gives out of her own aliveness, something of the eternal touches us there, in that place that is no place at all. Our fingers grasp the hem of a robe, or an angel’s hand brushes against our hip, and we are healed or stricken, changed utterly.”
“However badly or well we handle them, if we leave past hardships to the effects of time, sun, wind, and rain, rather than preserving them under glass, over time they will break down into a fertile soil that nourishes our work.”
Readability: 4
Impact: 5
Content: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Total: 4.75
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Topics are weaved alongside an admonition to deepen one’s relationship with God. It focuses on what should matter most in writing: depth, meaning, and a heart creating in sync with God, the Creator of all. This book truly delivers “the courage to live, read, and write more deeply and honestly.”
This book provoked me to more meticulously curate my reading list and to hone my writing to God’s glory. By this and the book’s wisdom and inspiration, it has an unmistakable place among my favorites!
Highlights:
“Many readers whose expectations have been shaped by screens expect a similar kind of spoon-feeding when reading books. They embrace stories that are easily digestible, with clearly labeled characters and little ambiguity.”
“Artist or Christian, when we eat and drink of the divine life that reconfigures our own . . . we become so many trees beside that river that proceeds from the throne of God, withstanding drought, fire, and frost, each year putting forth the soft green signs of resurrection.”
“Opening a book, we sink into a separate place in our own being, sometimes so deeply that the concrete world fades from our perception. . . if the author has mastered the craft and herself, if she gives out of her own aliveness, something of the eternal touches us there, in that place that is no place at all. Our fingers grasp the hem of a robe, or an angel’s hand brushes against our hip, and we are healed or stricken, changed utterly.”
“However badly or well we handle them, if we leave past hardships to the effects of time, sun, wind, and rain, rather than preserving them under glass, over time they will break down into a fertile soil that nourishes our work.”
Readability: 4
Impact: 5
Content: 5
Enjoyment: 5
Total: 4.75
Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily and was not required to leave a positive review. All opinions are my own.
January 13, 2025
So pretentious! Perhaps there is a truth in this book about writing but it is so wrapped the authors pedantic certainty that she knows best, it is hard to find it. I hate that she invokes God as she dashes the dreams of potential writers because she just gives fodder to the reason people avoid Christians like the plague, citing “they are so judgmental”. Worse, the work reads like a masters thesis that was turned into a book. If you have dreams of writing then avoid this book. No need to have your dreams dashed on the rocks of this authors ego and self-righteous prose.
September 27, 2024
Every artist should read this book. And non-artist. It’s a really good book. I’m already ready re-read it to take more in. Lots of thoughts. Felt this in my soul.
June 17, 2024
In Break Blow Burn & Make, E. Lily Yu . She begins the book by describing how writing is like an incandescent. The writer starts with a light and sometimes it can be seen a small flame just waiting to burn brighter. The dust and ashes are left by the living of one’s life. She compared it to a dragonfly and the world begins to shift and emerge and it searches for a reader. It the writing is good it will eventually burn through our preconceptions and change our way of living. She has felt like there is a missing vital flame in most the writings in today’s times. She explained how readers are now in search of books that offer their mirror way of thinking and help to reinforce our preexisting beliefs. She explored how literature is changing and how love, grace, wisdom is vanishing quickly. There is a dwindling in congregations and how many people are gathering together. She explained how she left a nondenominational church after some leader in another state declared that COVID-19 was an answer from his own personal prayer that God would bring down punishment. She shared how writers and readers need to recover what has been lost to catch the new flame and to get their fire back.
She explained how inspiration occurs and how gratitude has immensely helped her. She realized that this helped her with the very first blessing and it will help her to improve for hopefully a second one. This is an act of an inward response of thankfulness when we receive an idea or a new solution to our writing. She opened up about how she had an experience on working on first draft of her novel. She felt led to stop and to instead focus on another story that was demanding her full attention. She admitted how normally it takes her four drafts with hard editing and this time it was like she was being pulled into the way she should go. She learned to give thanks for this rare occurrence from her Creator. She explained how each artist is able to choose if they will grow their living story and it take them through pleasant and unpleasant tasks and we can freely receive the gift or refuse it. We have to be open to listening to the voice that instructs us to write when we need to write. She clarified how critical is to have the mindset we are called to serve others with our writing and not believe we should be the ones who are served.
I would recommend this inspiring book about creative and how writing has dramatically changed over the years. She has an unique way in describing the writing process and illustrating how their is a lost flame and art to good writing. She believes most of the writing now is missing the craft and language of the past. One of the most interesting things, she shared was how in 1895, J.B. Wise was found guilty of mailing out obscene materials containing Isaiah 12:36 and he was fined $50 dollars for doing so. I liked how she explored how Christian writing has also changed and how we have lost the truth and the love of Christ. This book is geared to help readers to read and write more deeply and being honest with themselves.
She explained how inspiration occurs and how gratitude has immensely helped her. She realized that this helped her with the very first blessing and it will help her to improve for hopefully a second one. This is an act of an inward response of thankfulness when we receive an idea or a new solution to our writing. She opened up about how she had an experience on working on first draft of her novel. She felt led to stop and to instead focus on another story that was demanding her full attention. She admitted how normally it takes her four drafts with hard editing and this time it was like she was being pulled into the way she should go. She learned to give thanks for this rare occurrence from her Creator. She explained how each artist is able to choose if they will grow their living story and it take them through pleasant and unpleasant tasks and we can freely receive the gift or refuse it. We have to be open to listening to the voice that instructs us to write when we need to write. She clarified how critical is to have the mindset we are called to serve others with our writing and not believe we should be the ones who are served.
I would recommend this inspiring book about creative and how writing has dramatically changed over the years. She has an unique way in describing the writing process and illustrating how their is a lost flame and art to good writing. She believes most of the writing now is missing the craft and language of the past. One of the most interesting things, she shared was how in 1895, J.B. Wise was found guilty of mailing out obscene materials containing Isaiah 12:36 and he was fined $50 dollars for doing so. I liked how she explored how Christian writing has also changed and how we have lost the truth and the love of Christ. This book is geared to help readers to read and write more deeply and being honest with themselves.
May 19, 2024
Bracing, sometimes chastening, these sharp insights and harrowing wisdoms will buzz and resonate inside me--I feel it. A sample of many gleanings:
“Many readers, however, and at least such a few writer, are preoccupied with mirror work. Such readers approach books as if they were magic mirrors, not asking for transformation but for reinforcement of preexisting beliefs.”
"Many readers whose expectations have been shaped by screens expect a similar kind of spoon-feeding when reading books. They embrace stories that are easily digestible, with clearly labeled characters and little ambiguity. Perhaps this is why many adult readers now prefer the genre called young adult to any other. This rejection of the traditional responsibilities of the reader has resulted in a little-discussed deterioration of reading skills. Some writers respond by asking less and less of the reader, reducing the difficulty, complexity, and subtlety of their work. Together those writers and readers spiral into shallowness."
“In an age that emphasizes images, performativity, and visibility over the invisible and intangible, courage tends to be misconceived. It is not the absence of fear but the refusal to be conquered and controlled by fear. It is not rash behavior but a mature willingness to reckon up and pay the costs of one's actions. It is not self-righteousness, with its sickly-sweet pleasures and sense of satisfaction, but a stomach-turning dread and lack of confidence that nevertheless produce right action. It is not inborn but accumulates over time through a gradual increase of the demands upon us.”
“I sometimes imagine a library where threads fine as spider silk stretched from book to book, showing how one influenced by another, or how a friendship, or an author’s admiration for another, leaves traces upon those writers’ books.”
“Humans are shortsighted, small-hearted, anxious creatures, as a rule, and it is terrifying to live by mystery and grace. This is a haunted life and a hallowed one. But I do not know any better or richer or more creative way to live.”
“Many readers, however, and at least such a few writer, are preoccupied with mirror work. Such readers approach books as if they were magic mirrors, not asking for transformation but for reinforcement of preexisting beliefs.”
"Many readers whose expectations have been shaped by screens expect a similar kind of spoon-feeding when reading books. They embrace stories that are easily digestible, with clearly labeled characters and little ambiguity. Perhaps this is why many adult readers now prefer the genre called young adult to any other. This rejection of the traditional responsibilities of the reader has resulted in a little-discussed deterioration of reading skills. Some writers respond by asking less and less of the reader, reducing the difficulty, complexity, and subtlety of their work. Together those writers and readers spiral into shallowness."
“In an age that emphasizes images, performativity, and visibility over the invisible and intangible, courage tends to be misconceived. It is not the absence of fear but the refusal to be conquered and controlled by fear. It is not rash behavior but a mature willingness to reckon up and pay the costs of one's actions. It is not self-righteousness, with its sickly-sweet pleasures and sense of satisfaction, but a stomach-turning dread and lack of confidence that nevertheless produce right action. It is not inborn but accumulates over time through a gradual increase of the demands upon us.”
“I sometimes imagine a library where threads fine as spider silk stretched from book to book, showing how one influenced by another, or how a friendship, or an author’s admiration for another, leaves traces upon those writers’ books.”
“Humans are shortsighted, small-hearted, anxious creatures, as a rule, and it is terrifying to live by mystery and grace. This is a haunted life and a hallowed one. But I do not know any better or richer or more creative way to live.”
May 22, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley and Worthy Publishing for the ARC!
In Break, Blow, Burn, and Make, E. Lily Yu writes with the galvanized conviction of a street preacher that true art is a divine collaboration. It’s a view far more traditional—more classical—than that held by most people, which renders the book occasionally entrancing and often grating.
Simply put, Yu doesn't like a lot of what is published. I think there’s a lot of merit to the author’s critiques of how tidy and toothless genre categorizations can be, encouraging readers to dull their palate rather than expand it. Similarly, her concerns with the superficiality of much online literary “criticism” feel resonant, as she notes the way it fosters simplistic moral prescriptivism and plays into a medium that already favors puritanism.
All that said, Yu’s subjective tastes—many of which I share—are unsteadily elevated to objective truth, and the tone feels more than a little “back in my day.” I don’t think generative artistry is as dead as Yu seems to think, and I’ve read dozens of new books that embody that spirit, even within the past few months. While Yu is obviously well-read, her influences throughout Break, Blow, Burn, and Make feel limited, and they loom almost oppressively over the text. This is a book where George Macdonald and G.K. Chesterton are the literary greats, and Yu utilizes a lot of stylistic emulation that feels anachronistic—at one point, readers encounter the phrase “I waxed wroth.”
The book is so focused on how we write from something that it feels like it loses sight of what we write toward. Yu is very concerned with form, and while I also feel like prose should be given more attention, the metrics the author uses feel archaic and insensitive to the way language changes.
Art might be rooted in the ineffable, but it should probably recognize that most people won’t use the word “ineffable.”
In Break, Blow, Burn, and Make, E. Lily Yu writes with the galvanized conviction of a street preacher that true art is a divine collaboration. It’s a view far more traditional—more classical—than that held by most people, which renders the book occasionally entrancing and often grating.
Simply put, Yu doesn't like a lot of what is published. I think there’s a lot of merit to the author’s critiques of how tidy and toothless genre categorizations can be, encouraging readers to dull their palate rather than expand it. Similarly, her concerns with the superficiality of much online literary “criticism” feel resonant, as she notes the way it fosters simplistic moral prescriptivism and plays into a medium that already favors puritanism.
All that said, Yu’s subjective tastes—many of which I share—are unsteadily elevated to objective truth, and the tone feels more than a little “back in my day.” I don’t think generative artistry is as dead as Yu seems to think, and I’ve read dozens of new books that embody that spirit, even within the past few months. While Yu is obviously well-read, her influences throughout Break, Blow, Burn, and Make feel limited, and they loom almost oppressively over the text. This is a book where George Macdonald and G.K. Chesterton are the literary greats, and Yu utilizes a lot of stylistic emulation that feels anachronistic—at one point, readers encounter the phrase “I waxed wroth.”
The book is so focused on how we write from something that it feels like it loses sight of what we write toward. Yu is very concerned with form, and while I also feel like prose should be given more attention, the metrics the author uses feel archaic and insensitive to the way language changes.
Art might be rooted in the ineffable, but it should probably recognize that most people won’t use the word “ineffable.”
November 8, 2025
This was a spontaneous read worthy of my time. A book for writers on creating meaningful works that will be life enriching to others. Being life giving, not poisonous, for others as well as oneself.
I especially liked reading the chapter on Solitude. I don't agree with her completely but she talked more in-depth on the the necessity of having quiet and privacy to create good lasting works away from the a life on display online and the standard ways of monetization. Good food for thought.
She does acknowledge that having writing work, freelancing, etc isn't wrong or bad. But usually I only have seen writers be only be for or against building a platform, speaking / consulting, etc.
I'd be interested to learn if there are authors which a more nuanced both minded perspective.
Granted she's mentioned that the authors she's known had regrets / misgivings who pursued revealing / selling personal information for fame and chasing success.
Fair enough, we can't unshared anything once it goes live online or in the media. And it's challenging to do the content creation hamster wheel while working on your books in progress
This was a deeper more meaningful book for Christian writers that really resonated with me. Again I don't agree with everything she says, but I deeply respect the points she's raised and her as a writer.
For those who want a deeper more educated perspective on creating, I'd whole heartily recommend her book.
I discovered this in a timely fashion when I was looking for this topic and not knowing where to find it. Glad it crossed my path!
I especially liked reading the chapter on Solitude. I don't agree with her completely but she talked more in-depth on the the necessity of having quiet and privacy to create good lasting works away from the a life on display online and the standard ways of monetization. Good food for thought.
She does acknowledge that having writing work, freelancing, etc isn't wrong or bad. But usually I only have seen writers be only be for or against building a platform, speaking / consulting, etc.
I'd be interested to learn if there are authors which a more nuanced both minded perspective.
Granted she's mentioned that the authors she's known had regrets / misgivings who pursued revealing / selling personal information for fame and chasing success.
Fair enough, we can't unshared anything once it goes live online or in the media. And it's challenging to do the content creation hamster wheel while working on your books in progress
This was a deeper more meaningful book for Christian writers that really resonated with me. Again I don't agree with everything she says, but I deeply respect the points she's raised and her as a writer.
For those who want a deeper more educated perspective on creating, I'd whole heartily recommend her book.
I discovered this in a timely fashion when I was looking for this topic and not knowing where to find it. Glad it crossed my path!
January 13, 2025
This is a beautiful, important book that I would recommend to every Christian writer. It is deeply thoughtful, connecting our vocation and calling as writers to our faith in God and our work in kingdom-building.
I disagreed, however, with one of the premises of the book: that the quality of prose in modern-day fiction has suffered. The author elevates classic books as exemplars, and although that prose and those stories are beautiful, I would argue that there is plenty of modern-day literary fiction that can make your heart soar with beauty, goodness, and truth. The banquet of words that "nourish, satisfy, and change" (p. 9) is absolutely there if you know where to look.
Other than that objection, this book is worth your time and careful attention. There were so many passages I highlighted, particularly in the second half of the book (I loved what she said about courage and solitude). Here's one of my favorite quotes:
"If, however, we choose to be apprenticed to God the Artist, learning to create in our more limited ways as He creates in His, we learn how deeply we are loved, how much we are forgiven, how willing He is to guide and support us, if we ask. If we create in collaboration with Him, listening for His direction and correction, He will make what we create together beautiful and useful, in ways we cannot guess at, and may not live to see. If we allow Him to coauthor our lives, then He will make us, flawed as we are, beautiful and useful as well."
I disagreed, however, with one of the premises of the book: that the quality of prose in modern-day fiction has suffered. The author elevates classic books as exemplars, and although that prose and those stories are beautiful, I would argue that there is plenty of modern-day literary fiction that can make your heart soar with beauty, goodness, and truth. The banquet of words that "nourish, satisfy, and change" (p. 9) is absolutely there if you know where to look.
Other than that objection, this book is worth your time and careful attention. There were so many passages I highlighted, particularly in the second half of the book (I loved what she said about courage and solitude). Here's one of my favorite quotes:
"If, however, we choose to be apprenticed to God the Artist, learning to create in our more limited ways as He creates in His, we learn how deeply we are loved, how much we are forgiven, how willing He is to guide and support us, if we ask. If we create in collaboration with Him, listening for His direction and correction, He will make what we create together beautiful and useful, in ways we cannot guess at, and may not live to see. If we allow Him to coauthor our lives, then He will make us, flawed as we are, beautiful and useful as well."
June 3, 2024
I honestly wasn't sure what I was getting into when I agreed to read this book, but I am so glad it came across my desk. What a thought-provoking read. Deep insights here, and to Yu's credit, she writes in the way she recommends: carefully, deeply and beautifully. The discussion and insights in the beginning about the way we read today were especially helpful and profound. Yu has good insights on writing, being an artist, and the way all of that blends together to make God's creation a more beautiful place. Spend some time with this book; you'll be glad you did. I look forward to spending some more time with it, going back over some passages, and learning even more.
February 10, 2025
Beautifully written, though this book should be read with a grain of salt; Yu has some interesting thoughts on the role of faith in creative work, though I found the theme of the tortured soul in the life of any fruitful artist somewhat disheartening, as if those who are not driven by creative euphoria or deed are not true artists. As with many other thoughts she expressed, I beg to differ.
I did enjoy her thoughts on the derivative connection of creative work: writers are influenced by other writers, and creative work can rarely be separated from works that have preceded it in the creator’s affections.
I did enjoy her thoughts on the derivative connection of creative work: writers are influenced by other writers, and creative work can rarely be separated from works that have preceded it in the creator’s affections.
August 5, 2025
Without reading any reviews before beginning this book, I couldn't figure out the author's argument. Even after reading a few chapters and reviews, I still find the premise, or maybe just the set-up, difficult to grasp. The inclusion of Christianity and its principles is a given-- no space is wasted getting the reader on board to that idea. The writing is often [observation about literature], [observation about Christianity], as if the two states clearly go together. I suppose, therefore, the book is best for readers who are already on board with the author's premise and looking to dive deeper.
May 16, 2024
Break, Blow, Burn, and Make: A Writer's Thoughts on Creation by E. Lily Yu is a call to creativity for Christian writers. The author discusses the process of creativity in detail, using quotes from writers throughout history to make each point. This book is a call to truly creative, not formulaic fiction, fiction that takes everything we are in a way that mimics the creative work of God. This is the Christian writer’s high calling. Overall, this book is an interesting read. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.
July 1, 2024
Because this book brought me so much joy and introspection any review that I write I fear will come up far short of my experience. I have never read a book like this before -- which alone is saying something -- but the author's magical use of language interwoven with deeply thoughtful (and researched and referenced!) chapters made me pause for thought, laughter, and wonder. She weaves faith and works (writing) in novel and puzzling ways, and I found myself stopping to consider her words. Truly as this review shows, this book is beyond description, and would be a great fit for anyone who is curious to explore the connections between writing and God.
April 21, 2025
"last of all, and most selfishly, i have written this because I desire new novels to have again that light and wildness, the love that orders and frees and the liveliness that astounds, that they might nourish me once more."
some good and beautiful thoughts on writing well, reading badly, and the practice of both as a haunted and hallowed art. also a reminder for me to read more L'Engle and Macdonald.
"A sneeze is a self-expression. It is natural to sneeze, but one hopes not to do so while performing a flute concerto."
some good and beautiful thoughts on writing well, reading badly, and the practice of both as a haunted and hallowed art. also a reminder for me to read more L'Engle and Macdonald.
"A sneeze is a self-expression. It is natural to sneeze, but one hopes not to do so while performing a flute concerto."
November 24, 2024
Overall the message of this book is clear: make good work, labor over it and do it for God not to appeal to people or win prizes.
This is important for any writer or Christian but the message was a bit repetitive about half-way through. I got a bit stuck and took some tome to come back to it.
I did appreciate the author’s transparency about her own struggles and the need to follow God’s instructions even if it makes no earthly sense.
This is important for any writer or Christian but the message was a bit repetitive about half-way through. I got a bit stuck and took some tome to come back to it.
I did appreciate the author’s transparency about her own struggles and the need to follow God’s instructions even if it makes no earthly sense.
March 21, 2025
Ever since I was first exposed to E. Lily Yu's writing through Clarkesworld Magazine, I loved her fiction and knew there was something unique and impressive about this author. Now, having read her nonfiction, I feel as though I understand a little better why her writing is such a gift to us readers. I think I can even confidently say she has become my favorite living writer. Her nonfiction is every bit as magical as her fiction. And this book has inspired to resume my own creative endeavors.
July 18, 2024
A million stars. This book is a revelation. I devoured it. A brilliant and risky shot across the bow, a resounding barbaric Christian yawp. It is devotional and has already joined the pantheon of my most-treasured books, with Lewis and Wiman and L’Engle and O’Connor and MacDonald and Merton.
December 2, 2024
A richly crafted and thought-provoking book on the writing life, but it offers much more. I found it to be a theologically profound exploration of vocation—of living creatively and with integrity in whatever callings we are given, guided by faith.
May 28, 2025
The book was a revelation. The more I read, the more I find that the spiritual life and the artistic life are the one and the same. Yu, a Christian writer, does a beautiful job of unveiling that mystery. I basically highlighted the every page.
May 28, 2024
Thought-provoking and beautifully written.
September 26, 2024
Going on the shelf next to King’s “On Writing,” L’Engle’s “Genesis Trilogy,” and Christian Wiman’s “Zero At the Bone.”
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