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Writing About Nature: A Creative Guide
Originally published by the Sierra Club in 1995, this handbook has already helped thousands of aspiring writers, scholars, and students share their experiences with nature and the outdoors. Using exercises and examples, John Murray covers genres, techniques, and publication issues. He uses examples from such masters as Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Larry McMurtry, Edward Abbey, Ernest Hemingway, and Henry David Thoreau. Also included are recommended readings, a directory of creative writing programs, professional organizations for writers, and a directory of environmental organizations. This revised edition includes a new chapter on nature writing and environmental activism.
"Nature is our grandest and oldest home, older than language, grander than consciousness. John Murray knows that in his bones, and he shares his knowledge generously with anyone who opens this book. Whether you write about the earth for publication or only for deepening your perceptions, you will find keen-eyed guidance here."--Scott Russell Sanders, author of Staying Put
"Nature is our grandest and oldest home, older than language, grander than consciousness. John Murray knows that in his bones, and he shares his knowledge generously with anyone who opens this book. Whether you write about the earth for publication or only for deepening your perceptions, you will find keen-eyed guidance here."--Scott Russell Sanders, author of Staying Put
- GenresNatureWritingNonfiction
214 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2018
In the preface, Murray writes, “Think of the book as a field guide” and its main topics reflect this advice: we draw from journals to write essays with endings and closings, using word pictures, figurative thought and character and dialogue. There’s revision, research, workshops and publication; and storytelling, fiction and poetry.
Like most writing advice books, the focus is on technique and the same patterns emerge as if these book authors had attended the same writing school. What is missing is a discussion about content – having something to say that is not only interesting but is also authentic.* One doesn’t sit down to write about nature so much as one needs to write about it.**
Here and there, Murray makes statements that raise the eyebrow. Novice writers he says make the mistake of ‘“dropping the narrator.’” Given an ego-driven world, I find that a relief. “Reading is, after all,” he writes elsewhere, “a passive activity.” Well, yes, in contrast with active writing, but a good read is anything but passive. And then there is this leaping cosmic assertion: “Metaphors explore the fundamental unity of the universe.”
Interesting tidbits: Thoreau was fluent in seven languages. Mark Twain edited Grant’s highly regarded memoirs. Hemmingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” was thought by many to be an allegory in which “the sea represents the unconscious, the marlin represents the work of art extracted from the depths of the unconscious in an epic struggle, and the destruction of the marlin by the sharks represents what the world does to its creations.” I don’t know what this means.
I like the following pieces of advice:
• “Assume that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions.”
• “write for the ages.” (this seems dated now in age of social media?)
• “Do not share your work too soon with others.”
• “All grammatical and composition rules can and should be broken where circumstances dictate.”
*In fairness, Murray does write that “part of our responsibilities as writers…is to break new ground, to create new metaphors and similes as well as new themes and styles, and to provide readers….with fresh ways of looking at the world and thinking about the world.”
** It’s hard to imagine Muir or Thoreau attending a writer’s workshop; Abbey, on the other hand, apparently did.
Like most writing advice books, the focus is on technique and the same patterns emerge as if these book authors had attended the same writing school. What is missing is a discussion about content – having something to say that is not only interesting but is also authentic.* One doesn’t sit down to write about nature so much as one needs to write about it.**
Here and there, Murray makes statements that raise the eyebrow. Novice writers he says make the mistake of ‘“dropping the narrator.’” Given an ego-driven world, I find that a relief. “Reading is, after all,” he writes elsewhere, “a passive activity.” Well, yes, in contrast with active writing, but a good read is anything but passive. And then there is this leaping cosmic assertion: “Metaphors explore the fundamental unity of the universe.”
Interesting tidbits: Thoreau was fluent in seven languages. Mark Twain edited Grant’s highly regarded memoirs. Hemmingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” was thought by many to be an allegory in which “the sea represents the unconscious, the marlin represents the work of art extracted from the depths of the unconscious in an epic struggle, and the destruction of the marlin by the sharks represents what the world does to its creations.” I don’t know what this means.
I like the following pieces of advice:
• “Assume that the reader can draw his or her own conclusions.”
• “write for the ages.” (this seems dated now in age of social media?)
• “Do not share your work too soon with others.”
• “All grammatical and composition rules can and should be broken where circumstances dictate.”
*In fairness, Murray does write that “part of our responsibilities as writers…is to break new ground, to create new metaphors and similes as well as new themes and styles, and to provide readers….with fresh ways of looking at the world and thinking about the world.”
** It’s hard to imagine Muir or Thoreau attending a writer’s workshop; Abbey, on the other hand, apparently did.
June 25, 2008
Can't take a class in U.S. Nature Writing? This book will act as your instructor providing a range of assignments with each chapter that includes study of some of the key figures in the field. The chapters include The Journal, The Writing Process, The Opening, The Closing, Word Pictures, Figurative Language, Research, Revision and more. One of my favorite assignments includes selecting a nature writing essay and rewriting the opening or closing paragraph. But there are probably exercises and assignments in there to appeal to everyone.
To Be Sure: This book is not simply assignments. The assignments highlight the strategies employed in successful nature writing and discussed in the chapters. I loved the discussion of journals. Did you know the words journal and journey share the an identical root?
To Be Sure: This book is not simply assignments. The assignments highlight the strategies employed in successful nature writing and discussed in the chapters. I loved the discussion of journals. Did you know the words journal and journey share the an identical root?
May 28, 2010
If you enjoy reading from the genre of nature writing, this book is worth owning for its "Bibliography of Works Cited" and "Recommended Reading." I'm sure you would find some new favorites to inspire you.
At the end of each chapter are action items to help the aspiring writer practice the craft. While these items appear simple, they are not easy. They truly challenge you to improve. Perhaps his best advice came in the chapter about workshops, "Taking well-intentioned advice from the wrong source has destroyed or crippled many a work in progress."
At the end of each chapter are action items to help the aspiring writer practice the craft. While these items appear simple, they are not easy. They truly challenge you to improve. Perhaps his best advice came in the chapter about workshops, "Taking well-intentioned advice from the wrong source has destroyed or crippled many a work in progress."
March 17, 2016
This gem of a book takes little time to read, yet contains enough material for years of practice and refinement of the craft of nature writing. With quotes and examples of some of the best known writers, along with practice exercises at the conclusion of each chapter, "Writing About Nature" is a wonderful resource for both the casual and aspiring journal writer.
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May 15, 2009Writing About Nature: A Creative Guide by John A. Murray (2003)
August 22, 2009
Some excellent pointers on nature writing.
March 31, 2015
The big problem with this book is I now have a long list of writers who also kept journals, as well as writing about nature. Just what I need...more to read!
November 7, 2022
This instructional book, Writing About Nature, is terrible guide in which to learn how to write well. It is full of spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and ironically bad examples.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews