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Summary: essential reading
Review: I bought this book by "accident" when I was in New York in 1981. I cried when I read it, for I KNEW I was going to be a writer, a thing to grand for me to ever even imagine. It took a few years but last year I had my first novel published in England (of marriageable age): several translations, and huge advances. This is the book that started me off. I owe everything to it. Every aspiring author should read it.
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Summary: Inspiring and Practical
Review: I can not tell you how important it is for every new (and experienced) writer to obtain - and read - this book. Written in an extremely readable style and full of practical, meaningful exercises, this book is different from every other writing book out there. Buy it first and read it often.
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Summary: Best book yet for inspiring the writer
Review: I have purchased several books on writing fiction and non-fiction. And I would have to say, most of the books that I have purchased I did find useful in assisting me with what I wanted to know. But after reading Dorothea Brande's "Becoming a Writer", I felt the warmest type of inspiration. Brande came from the 30s era when she didn't have to contend with the computer, editors that only read two or three pages of a book before they throw it in the trash pile, or the pressures of a fast moving market. Yet, she knew full well what every writer experiences and needs to be told. And she told it, quite well, in this book. I loved it. I keep it next to my computer for reference from time to time. I recommend this wonderful book to anyone that has intentions of writing, no matter what area they are trying to enter. It is just great.
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Summary: Brilliant book; full of insights
Review: I have to confess to being somewhat elitist. When I first grabbed this book, I thought to myself...written in the 1930's? How good can it be? I assumed that the information must be dated and would be scarcely applicable to the writing medium of today. How wrong I was. This is far and away the best book on writing that I have read. Ms. Brande obviously knew her stuff inside and out. This is not the usual dissection of grammar errors, but rather, she explores the method that one should take to writing in order to be successful. There are neither contrived pep talks that tell beginning writers exactly what they want to hear, nor does she try to break a young writer's spirit. She achieves a great balance. Her exercises for determining whether one can become a writer are sensible, and I've applied them and found them very helpful. Read this and Ms. Brande will help you find out what you're made of.
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Summary: Finally!
Review: I have to say, that from the first page of the Foreword I knew I had found the book I had been looking for. I'm only half-way done with it, but I recognize a lot of my own mental mistakes about writing, and it's comforting to know that I'm not alone. It demystifies the process of writing and makes it more available to anyone who truly wants to write,or even the person who "thinks" they truly want to write.
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Summary: Take with a grain of common sense
Review: I read Dorothea Brande's classic writing text because it was recommended to me on amazon.com (I'm an addict). It was one of those "You'll love this" picks, and for the most part, they were right. I enjoyed the exercises, and I liked Brande's ideas about writers using nonverbal recreation to stimulate their writing (for instance, going to an orchestra concert instead of watching a movie)and ways to observe as a writer. However, I think she takes some things a little too seriously- and I consider myself a serious writer. She made too much of the importance of environment in "preserving the writer's spirit" and in the process came off a bit like a wilting Victorian lady, ready to stop writing because of the smallest interruptions to her writing routine. In my experience, if you're really committed to it, the will to write is a lot stronger than that. Good advice, but don't let it push you over the edge into overzealous belly-button examination.
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Summary: Stunning
Review: I think this book is one of the best books on writing ever. It doesn't deal with technique, which any schmuck can understand. It deals with the artistic side of writing, the connection between the concious mind and the unconscious mind. I have currently taken up her first suggestion of writing as soon as you wake up in the morning to get as close to the unconscious as possible and to get you used to writing, and let me just say that it's a powerful suggestion.I can almost feel stories gushing out of my ears.
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Summary: Highly reccommend this book
Review: I'm a huge fan of this book as well as John Gardner's The Art of Ficiton. Both will get you thinking and writing and if you follow their advice - make you into a finer more thoughtful writer.
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Summary: Stop reading this review and buy this book!
Review: If you are thinking about writing, or do write but telling the world that you are a <<writer>> does not yet come naturally, stop reading this and buy this book. Use one-click service! Have them ship it overnight! Just read this book, and read it now!I have been writing for a long time - grants, client reports, and articles at first. More recently I've included website essays and a monthly email newsletter. What spurred me to buy this book is that I am now writing my first book. I felt that I needed some sort of scheduling discipline, and I wanted to learn about living a writer's life. I previously thought the latter was based on lots of drinking binges, alternating between alcohol and caffeine. And a good dose of angst while trying desparately to appeal to one1s muse to visit occasionally right before a big deadline. When I just started writing, it wasn1t like that at all. I have something to say about my topic (helping professional women transform stagnant jobs into rewarding and meaningful careers.) I just started writing about the women I know, what gets in their way, and how they can resolve their conflicts to do what they are meant to do. So much for the angst and drinking binges. But I wanted to read about ordinary people and how they write. This book was the answer to that search. Ms. Brande has a wonderfully simple yet profound way of making her point. She wrote this in the 30s, yet has a fresh take! I found it refreshing that she writes about the issue of writers1 tools -- typewriters as opposed to quill pens -- without any mention of the internet or the Y2K bug. Before right brain - left brain dualism was a common idea, she was writing about how to get your creative side to follow the direction of your logical side. This book is a gem. It is perfect for writers at a particular point in their careers, and I imagine it is very useful if you are not right there at the moment. Let1s just say that not only did she inspire me to get to work on my book, but to write this reader1s review. So get this book, and get inspired about your writing!
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Summary: Stop with the so called, "Inspirational Stuff"
Review: If you tried to do all her exercises as you read the book, it would take at least six months. So as you read, just imagine the exercises--that'll do the trick. You probably couldn't find a book that explains the creative process any better, and you certainly couldn't find one that does it in more down-to-earth terms. She's taken Carl Jung's explanation of the creative process and made it personal. It's a book you ought to read just for the fun of it. What a character! But a wise woman, there's no doubt.
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