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Teach Yourself Creative Writing
Travel writers explore the world and get paid for it. Turn a love of travel into a profession with tips on how to get started, where to find great story ideas, how to write an irresistible proposal, and how to get work published.
- GenresWriting
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 1996
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November 9, 2014
Full disclosure: I picked this book up second-hand from a Greens fundraising stall at the Eltham Festival, FULLY expecting to get a laugh out of hating it.
I do not hate it.
Some of it is really, super outdated. There's a big section on MS formatting that's completely irrelevant these days, for example. I also believe (though I do not know) that the BBC sources its radio plays and 'talks' somewhat differently now, so that information may also no longer be relevant. Published periodicals are no longer the best way to get information about paying markets, and the way paying markets work now is different enough that the advice in this book about them is largely meaningless.
However. That is not to say that the whole thing is completely useless. If you've got no idea how to start a creative writing career, or you're at the stage of your craft where you need a little push to polish your MS for publication, or, like me, you just benefit from seeing things you already know in black and white from time to time, it's certainly worth seeking out in your local library or from a charity shop. I doubt it's still in current print (though you never know).
It isn't a bang up-to-date complete guide to all things writing, but there's nothing wrong with it as an introduction to the subject and though it's more coddling than I would normally like, it does tend to give a realistic view of what it actually takes to make it as a writer, written with the writer seeking publication in mind.
I do not hate it.
Some of it is really, super outdated. There's a big section on MS formatting that's completely irrelevant these days, for example. I also believe (though I do not know) that the BBC sources its radio plays and 'talks' somewhat differently now, so that information may also no longer be relevant. Published periodicals are no longer the best way to get information about paying markets, and the way paying markets work now is different enough that the advice in this book about them is largely meaningless.
However. That is not to say that the whole thing is completely useless. If you've got no idea how to start a creative writing career, or you're at the stage of your craft where you need a little push to polish your MS for publication, or, like me, you just benefit from seeing things you already know in black and white from time to time, it's certainly worth seeking out in your local library or from a charity shop. I doubt it's still in current print (though you never know).
It isn't a bang up-to-date complete guide to all things writing, but there's nothing wrong with it as an introduction to the subject and though it's more coddling than I would normally like, it does tend to give a realistic view of what it actually takes to make it as a writer, written with the writer seeking publication in mind.
Displaying 1 of 1 review