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I have come across quite a few books that give writing advice from the "great writers". Often, the book is full of soundbites that might look interesting in a tweet, and perhaps even be useful in themselves. However, writers cannot live by soundbites alone.
This book plugs that obvious gap by writing about the advice within a broader context, and from a personal perspective.
For example, one of the questions that nonfiction writers ask is: is it ok to add fictional elements to a story if it's broadly true? Some say absolutely not. Some say yes, as long at it's not a key component of the narrative. But Roy Peter Clark takes a far more nuanced look at the question, citing from authors who want us to be transparent with our readers.
The book covers language, voice, audience and other aspects of writing. It draws on a wide variety of authors, including one of my favourites, Gay Talese, Stephen King (of course!) and Orwell. Each chapter concludes with lessons, which contain several questions. One I especially like is this:
“Ask yourself, “Am I including this because it provides the reader with a memorable and delightful piece of evidence to prove the point of my text? Or is it beside the point even though it reveals what a good wordsmith I am?””
This is a highly readable collection of good advice from the great writers, with commentary by someone who is himself both a writer and a teacher of writing.
This review first appeared in my newsletter, Terry Freedman’s Books Bulletin.
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