What do you think?
Rate this book
Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method
Gerald M. Weinberg -- author of more than forty books and more than 400 articles over a forty-year career -- reveals his secrets for gathering, organizing, and discarding writing ideas. Drawing an analogy to the stone-by-stone method of building fieldstone walls, Weinberg shows writers how to construct fiction and nonfiction manuscripts from key insights, stories, and quotes. The elements, or stones, are collected nonsequentially, over time, and eventually find logical places in larger pieces. The method renders writer's block irrelevant and has proved effective for scores of Weinberg's writing class students, who have collectively published more than 100 books. If you've ever wanted to write a book or article -- or need a fresh approach to your writing career -- try what works for Weinberg and gather your best ideas into beautiful stone walls. Gerald M. Weinberg is one of the most influential thinkers in computer science. Weinberg on Writing isn't a computer book, though -- Weinberg describes his life and practices as a writer, enriching the text with more than 40 exercises appropriate for individual or group study. Inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame in its inaugural year (in the same class as Bill Gates), Weinberg's career highlights have included computer programming at IBM for Project Mercury (which put the first American in space), serving on the faculty of famed family therapist Virginia Satir, consulting for Fortune 500 companies through his firm, Weinberg & Weinberg, and teaching thousands of technical professionals how to improve their communication skills.
194 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
52 people are currently reading
461 people want to read
About the author
Gerald M. Weinberg
95 books372 followersGerald Marvin Weinberg (October 27, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an American computer scientist, author and teacher of the psychology and anthropology of computer software development.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 21, 2012
I've been working on improving my writing for about 20 years. When I was inside organizations, I asked some of my colleagues to review my memos and reports. I gained valuable insights. ("A verb, JR, a verb. Please.") But once I started my consulting business 11 years ago, I needed more help with my writing. My early reviewers gave me useful and helpful feedback. But it wasn't until I took Jerry Weinberg's writing workshop that I was able to take my writing to the next level.
If you want to take a writing workshop but don't feel you have the time or the money to spend a week at a workshop, buy this book. Work through the exercises--yes, all of them. Listen to Jerry's advice, such as "Never attempt to write something you don't care about" or "Writer's block is not a disorder in you, the writer. It's a deficiency in your writing methods--the mythology you've swallowed about how works get written."
I'm proof these techniques work. I've published three books, over 100 articles, and am working on my next few books. One of the techniques Jerry suggests is that you have many fieldstones, chunks of work in progress. In progress may mean you've written two words. It may mean you've written several chapter-like things. It may mean you've written 50 words. Fieldstones allow you to make progress on any piece of work, which can allow you to finish more writing projects than you could imagine.
If you want to start your writing career, or if you want to write better, or if you want to revitalize your writing, buy this book.
If you want to take a writing workshop but don't feel you have the time or the money to spend a week at a workshop, buy this book. Work through the exercises--yes, all of them. Listen to Jerry's advice, such as "Never attempt to write something you don't care about" or "Writer's block is not a disorder in you, the writer. It's a deficiency in your writing methods--the mythology you've swallowed about how works get written."
I'm proof these techniques work. I've published three books, over 100 articles, and am working on my next few books. One of the techniques Jerry suggests is that you have many fieldstones, chunks of work in progress. In progress may mean you've written two words. It may mean you've written several chapter-like things. It may mean you've written 50 words. Fieldstones allow you to make progress on any piece of work, which can allow you to finish more writing projects than you could imagine.
If you want to start your writing career, or if you want to write better, or if you want to revitalize your writing, buy this book.
January 19, 2022
I'm in a peculiar situation with this book. I'm actively recommending it to people... but I'm also giving it two stars. I'll try to explain my reconciliation process.
The ideas in this book are coherent. Many of Weinberg's suggestions are techniques I've gleaned from other sources and the stories, suggestions, and exercises are all worth working through. It's a light read and the entire book is easy to digest.
So why two stars? The writing is just not very good. It's not terrible. But for a book about writing it feels like there should be more to this little pamphlet. The transitions are not arresting, but there is grit in the derailleur. His ideas are sound, but they do not read as a continuum. It's perhaps a genius form of self-reference that his book feels like running one's hand over a fieldstone wall ... but I'm guessing that wasn't intentional. Brilliant writing feels smooth and worn, like the plaster of some Mughalai palace. He never quite achieves that.
I will continue to recommend this book, under two conditions. One, it must be paired with Clear and Simple as the Truth. Two, it should be digested as a textbook. Clear and Simple is sufficiently pretentious that The Fieldstone Method will feel refreshing afterward — but more like a mug full of lukewarm water while re-shingling your house in cloudless July than a gin and tonic on the porch. Still, worth reading.
The ideas in this book are coherent. Many of Weinberg's suggestions are techniques I've gleaned from other sources and the stories, suggestions, and exercises are all worth working through. It's a light read and the entire book is easy to digest.
So why two stars? The writing is just not very good. It's not terrible. But for a book about writing it feels like there should be more to this little pamphlet. The transitions are not arresting, but there is grit in the derailleur. His ideas are sound, but they do not read as a continuum. It's perhaps a genius form of self-reference that his book feels like running one's hand over a fieldstone wall ... but I'm guessing that wasn't intentional. Brilliant writing feels smooth and worn, like the plaster of some Mughalai palace. He never quite achieves that.
I will continue to recommend this book, under two conditions. One, it must be paired with Clear and Simple as the Truth. Two, it should be digested as a textbook. Clear and Simple is sufficiently pretentious that The Fieldstone Method will feel refreshing afterward — but more like a mug full of lukewarm water while re-shingling your house in cloudless July than a gin and tonic on the porch. Still, worth reading.
May 4, 2012
I got hooked from the very first advice it gave. This is not the typical "write for your market" kind of thing. This really talks about the creative process of writing, starting from having the heart to write, all the way to life after publishing.
Suitable for writers of any genre : fiction, non-fiction, technical, etc.
Suitable for writers of any genre : fiction, non-fiction, technical, etc.
December 25, 2009
I've read a lot of books on writing and this is my favorite by far.
February 10, 2019
Gerry Weinberg has a PhD in communications and has written around 60 books on various topics, mostly having to do with computer programming. As a glorified computer programmer and an aspiring writer, this Weinberg book on his methodology for writing seems appealing.
His basic take runs through writing from the heart. He uses the analogy for nineteen of twenty chapters in this book of craftsperson building a wall with "fieldstones" and mortar.
For example, the act of sorting stones into piles is compared with sorting one's ideas into working projects. Many ideas, like many stones, are to be thrown away. Some are meant for placement in one section; some are meant for placement in others. All require careful arrangement.
I like how Weinberg's process is highly non-linear, much like the way I think. I tend to accomplish more through the use of non-linear thinking. (Aren't all good minds essentially non-linear?) I also appreciate the spatial metaphors he uses as I find the linear way I was taught to write in high school to be very confusing.
I write words like I write code - in a blow-off-the-doors, mad rush to dump out my thoughts onto a keyboard. Fitting in a linear process does not really work well for me, whether that be in a manager's linear model (waterfall methodology anyone?) or in an English teacher's ploy for high test grades. I do best when I just make a quick dump and organize as I go. This seems to be how Weinberg teaches us how to communicate as well. That confidence in a method that fits me enables me to write more recklessly and with more moxie than I would otherwise. For that, I am grateful to have read this book.
His basic take runs through writing from the heart. He uses the analogy for nineteen of twenty chapters in this book of craftsperson building a wall with "fieldstones" and mortar.
For example, the act of sorting stones into piles is compared with sorting one's ideas into working projects. Many ideas, like many stones, are to be thrown away. Some are meant for placement in one section; some are meant for placement in others. All require careful arrangement.
I like how Weinberg's process is highly non-linear, much like the way I think. I tend to accomplish more through the use of non-linear thinking. (Aren't all good minds essentially non-linear?) I also appreciate the spatial metaphors he uses as I find the linear way I was taught to write in high school to be very confusing.
I write words like I write code - in a blow-off-the-doors, mad rush to dump out my thoughts onto a keyboard. Fitting in a linear process does not really work well for me, whether that be in a manager's linear model (waterfall methodology anyone?) or in an English teacher's ploy for high test grades. I do best when I just make a quick dump and organize as I go. This seems to be how Weinberg teaches us how to communicate as well. That confidence in a method that fits me enables me to write more recklessly and with more moxie than I would otherwise. For that, I am grateful to have read this book.
February 26, 2019
I found the overall message of the book great, and it made me want to write more.
“Fieldstones” are small pieces of information, quotes, ideas etc which have “energy” for you - they are inspiring or interesting, they spark something for you. If you gather these all the time, you’ll end up having enough “fieldstones” to make various “walls” (books, articles etc). The book gives lots of detail on how to collect them, and on the process of writing - how to combine the stones to make something that retains the initial spark of the original pieces.
The downsides are that the book felt longer than it needed to be, and that the wall / writing analogy felt a bit stretched at times.
“Fieldstones” are small pieces of information, quotes, ideas etc which have “energy” for you - they are inspiring or interesting, they spark something for you. If you gather these all the time, you’ll end up having enough “fieldstones” to make various “walls” (books, articles etc). The book gives lots of detail on how to collect them, and on the process of writing - how to combine the stones to make something that retains the initial spark of the original pieces.
The downsides are that the book felt longer than it needed to be, and that the wall / writing analogy felt a bit stretched at times.
February 7, 2021
Being the master storyteller that Jerry was, this book is crafted around a single, powerful metaphor:
That of gathering stones, to then organise and construct aesthetically pleasing walls.
I now have a physical felt sense of what weight, shape, and texture will be of the fieldstones that I want to gather. With my toolbox filled with practical exercises I am excited to then polish and fit them into many future walls I want to construct.
That of gathering stones, to then organise and construct aesthetically pleasing walls.
I now have a physical felt sense of what weight, shape, and texture will be of the fieldstones that I want to gather. With my toolbox filled with practical exercises I am excited to then polish and fit them into many future walls I want to construct.
May 13, 2017
Lo siento, pero el método del campo de piedras de Gerald Weinberg no es adecuado para mí, ni le veo utilidad para la escritura de ficción. Hay algunos puntos destacados en todo el libro, pero en general no le he visto ninguna utilidad. Por supuesto, ese es solo mi punto de vista, el tuyo puede variar.
January 30, 2022
I started and read half through The Fieldstone Method a number of years ago. Succinctly:
1. This is how I've always written, did not know there was a name for it.
2. This is not a good method, for me, for intermittently delivering business or technical writing on demand. There are other books for that skill.
1. This is how I've always written, did not know there was a name for it.
2. This is not a good method, for me, for intermittently delivering business or technical writing on demand. There are other books for that skill.
September 18, 2018
I miss you, Grandpa Jerry. Thank you for giving me, and the rest of the world, the gift of your spirit and your writing.
(Still not sure why you put a picture of Camille in this book and never used one of me... but I guessss I won’t take off any stars)
(Still not sure why you put a picture of Camille in this book and never used one of me... but I guessss I won’t take off any stars)
May 6, 2024
An odd quine: Weinberg promotes the Fieldstone method by showing how the Fieldstone method produced the book that's describing it.
A utilitarian approach to gathering, organizing, and producing works of writing the same way long-enduring walls are made from gathered stone. The book itself resembles the namesake fieldstone wall: rough, but solid.
A utilitarian approach to gathering, organizing, and producing works of writing the same way long-enduring walls are made from gathered stone. The book itself resembles the namesake fieldstone wall: rough, but solid.
May 8, 2010
"With wit, charm, humor, and wisdom, Gerald Weinberg shows you exactly how to become a more effective consultant" says the Goodreads' description for one of my favorite books Secrets of Successful Consulting.... well simply substitute effective writing for the italicized words and you've got the gist of this book.
Studded with lots of examples and exercises for the reader, the book could help writers of all genres and all skill levels; the most important lesson is not to just fight through "writers block" but to leap around it and Weinberg seems to have found a metaphor, "the Fieldstone Method," that will work if faithfully practiced. But then the proof of this statement will have to, for me, wait for its actual use in practice!
I must admit that the "reading" was so good I skipped those exercises best done in teams. That said, the self discovery that came from the solitary exercises I did complete was great enough that I will be going back through the book, at a more leisurely pace, to ensure that I make use of the remaining ones - something I have never, in any book of this nature, had any interest in doing. That in itself is testimony to the power of the book.
July 12, 2015
The Fieldstone Method is a simple and easy to apply method for writing. It doesn’t matter if you write a book or just a text for work. When you collect good ideas in a more organized way, then you can use those “fieldstones” for your work. Not all will fit and maybe you are better off by ignoring many in your collection. But when you have nice sentences or useful images that bring ideas to the point, go ahead and use them.
“Are Your Lights On?” is a great book by Gerald M. Weinberg that still defines for me his writing. The Software Quality Series had many ups and downs and is a good reminder that even with a method like this one, you still may write books that are not that good. However, an author who wrote more than 40 books knows definitely how to organize his work to get such an output.
So far I don’t have much experience with this method, but it’s an interesting idea that is worth following up. I therefore can recommend you this book when you have to write much and often need to search for ideas.
“Are Your Lights On?” is a great book by Gerald M. Weinberg that still defines for me his writing. The Software Quality Series had many ups and downs and is a good reminder that even with a method like this one, you still may write books that are not that good. However, an author who wrote more than 40 books knows definitely how to organize his work to get such an output.
So far I don’t have much experience with this method, but it’s an interesting idea that is worth following up. I therefore can recommend you this book when you have to write much and often need to search for ideas.
February 22, 2013
Documents the approach the author used to complete many of his works. Useful, but the end drags.
January 20, 2013
Writing lessons. Usefull when you experience a writer's block.
September 4, 2013
Even though I am "only" writing for scientific purposes I found this book very inspiring.
March 1, 2016
I have read hundreds of how-to-write books, and this may be the best. It is very unlike the others, really stunning in the originality of its pragmatism.
December 30, 2022
better than 'how to take smart notes'. i liked how reading this feels like i was also a student in one of his workshops.
April 8, 2013
My amazon review: http://www.amazon.com/review/R9CVAO60...
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews