Starting from Scratch

Rating:
Summary: Starting from Scratch
Review: "If you can tolerate my temperament you'll probably enjoy the writer's manual". In Starting From Scratch, author Rita Mae Brown includes tons of personal information and a lot of valuable writing advice.
From early childhood Brown had a desire to be a writer. "It never occurred to me to be anything else". Brown's manual opens with a summary of here early years and a basic beginning to her writing career. Brown includes discussion of her struggles as a writer. She includes sleep tactics, proper eating instructions and a few pages denouncing drinking and drugs of any form. "It should be obvious to you that you must learn Latin". Brown discusses the importance and impact Latin has had on evolving our language. Brown gives brief summaries of her income from her writing career, she adds input on writing magazine articles, non-fiction, short stories, play productions and screenplays. Brown closes with an 18 page reading list. "This is prepared from a writer's point of view".

I was pleased with the approach Brown took throughout her book. She had a clear avenue of thought, but absolutely no sequential order. Brown shares a lot of personal information, and many insightful points about the writing profession. An interesting book and enjoyable read. Definitely a different kind of writers manual.

Rating:
Summary: Starting from Scratch
Review: "If you can tolerate my temperament you'll probably enjoy the writer's manual". In Starting From Scratch, author Rita Mae Brown includes tons of personal information and a lot of valuable writing advice.
From early childhood Brown had a desire to be a writer. "It never occurred to me to be anything else". Brown's manual opens with a summary of here early years and a basic beginning to her writing career. Brown includes discussion of her struggles as a writer. She includes sleep tactics, proper eating instructions and a few pages denouncing drinking and drugs of any form. "It should be obvious to you that you must learn Latin". Brown discusses the importance and impact Latin has had on evolving our language. Brown gives brief summaries of her income from her writing career, she adds input on writing magazine articles, non-fiction, short stories, play productions and screenplays. Brown closes with an 18 page reading list. "This is prepared from a writer's point of view".

I was pleased with the approach Brown took throughout her book. She had a clear avenue of thought, but absolutely no sequential order. Brown shares a lot of personal information, and many insightful points about the writing profession. An interesting book and enjoyable read. Definitely a different kind of writers manual.

Rating:
Summary: Blood, sweat, and tears
Review: "Starting From Scratch" covers many subjects that other writing manuals avoid such as how to physically and emotionally deal with the stressful aspects of being a professional writer. Also, instead of giving dry grammar lessons and complaining about the illiteracy of the general reading public, Ms. Brown consistently urges the writer to learn Latin and to read extensively in order to master the use of the English language. Being a student of Latin myself and an avid reader, I couldn't agree more with Ms. Brown on these two recommendations. On the other hand, the author's tone can be abrasive and the stories of her struggles are far from inspiring; they are out-and-out discouraging. Regardless, Ms. Brown describes the writing industry in detail; a new writer, having read this book, should thereafter be prepared for the real world of writing where million dollar advances and instant success stories are nothing but pipe dreams. For the nitty-gritty truth, read "Starting From Scratch". For inspiration, read Stephen King's "On Writing."

Rating:
Summary: The same kind of writer's manual....
Review: As Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, John Gardner's Art of Fiction and On Becoming a Novelist, Stephen King's On Writing, and many more. This book is just another hybrid memoir/advice book. Not that this is necessarily bad (nor necessarily good) but the title is definitely deceptive.

Compared to the books I just mentioned, I definitely found this one below average. The information regarding latinate vs. Anglo-Saxon words gets a bit more thorough covering than in John Gardner, which is really nice, and if I could have bought just that chapter I would have, but listening to Ms. Brown's rather annoying social opinions for the rest of the book made it just not worth it - not for this Yankee anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Do you want a PhD?
Review: I found Rita Mae Brown's Starting from Scratch to be a huge disappointment. Most of the information in the book has nothing to do with writing, but rather with Ms. Brown's personal politics, experiences, and life advice (having nothing to do with writing). Dotted throughout the book are Ms. Brown's obviously left winged politics. It isn't that they were left wing, I just could care less about her politics and found this to be a very inappropraite place for her to display them. Her personal experience regarding her divorce, childhood, and the like are equally unnecessary and boring. Worst of all, Ms. Brown exhorts us in her book to trust our readers, because they are smarter than we think they are, while telling us to eat right, don't do drugs, and get plenty of exercise. Perhaps good advice, but in a writing manual?

Another annoying aspect of this book is its lack of coverage on most important writing points. Character and plot are given a brush over. Agents and markets are all but ignored. A couple of literary forms, especially short fiction and non fiction, are given short shrift. Other than a few good writing exercises (which can be gotten from any website), there is basically no writing advice at all in this book.

The only reason I even gave this book two stars at all is that Ms. Brown does cover the subject of Latin, language development, and the reading necessary to a writer. This information is invaluable. If Ms. Brown could have controlled herself by staying on the subject matter, this book could have been one third its size and much better. Certainly, it was her editor's job, which goes to show that at least two people failed with this book.

Lucky me, I only paid a couple of bucks at my local used book store.

Rating:
Summary: I'm hard pressed to think of anything worse.
Review: I just read an excerpt from the book, The Two English Languages, as a requirement for a writing class at the University of Michigan. As it turns out, Brown secures her reputation for being a barely-above-pulp-fiction writer, desperately attempting to justify herself by attacking and belitting others who haven't undertaken the study of Latin and Anglo-Saxon (because we all know that's the only way to really know English).

Not only is the argument completely ridiculous, as English isn't even a romance language and the grammar is similar neither to Latin nor French (from which her list of cognates is taken), but her proposition that English is the most powerful literary language is entirely ethnocentric (or, more specifically, linguacentric).

All languages have the ability to show shades of meaning. English does it with lexical differences because, as a language, it borrows heavily from others, giving it a huge pool of synonyms with various origins.

Rating:
Summary: sassy but wise
Review: Rita Mae Brown pulls no punches in her introduction. Even if you don't like her book, you'll have learned something about what you don't like "and that's a gift of sorts." Luckily, I enjoyed "Starting From Scratch" immensely, although I would have to quibble about the necessity of reading the lengthy book list at the back, and learning Latin (although I have taken it in high school).

Anyway, the book is divided into roughly three sections. First, is Brown's autobiographical sketch. (She's one of the few writers who don't appear to blame their parents for their current miseries.) Second, is the nuts and bolts of writing, and finally, the topics like finding an agent and writing for TV, etc.

What makes this book different from other writing guides is that Brown frankly addresses the problem (and prevalence) of substance abuse with writers. While I shouldn't quote her directly on the topic, it's clear that she has ample scorn for writers who try to live up to the stereotype of the heavy drinker/drugger. She also addresses the need to take care of one's body nutrition and exercise-wise, which is pretty hard to argue with.

Her writing is pithy and makes even grammar lessons hold your interest. Worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: No one can tell you how to write............
Review: With the exception of a few of the reviews on this page regarding "Starting from Scratch" there seems to be an error in judgment when it comes to writting advice. No one can tell or show you how to write. What is written in this book are one persons oppions and advice to help people start thinking on there own. My advice is to read some of Rita Mae Brown's other works to understand her as an author first. Then if you like her works read this book. One thing to understand about writting is that writting is a reflection of yourself. Whether on a conscious or subconscious level. No matter what though don't buy a book with the idea that it will teach you to write; you have to allow yourself to be able to write. Others can only give you knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: sassy but wise
Review: With the exception of a few of the reviews on this page regarding "Starting from Scratch" there seems to be an error in judgment when it comes to writting advice. No one can tell or show you how to write. What is written in this book are one persons oppions and advice to help people start thinking on there own. My advice is to read some of Rita Mae Brown's other works to understand her as an author first. Then if you like her works read this book. One thing to understand about writting is that writting is a reflection of yourself. Whether on a conscious or subconscious level. No matter what though don't buy a book with the idea that it will teach you to write; you have to allow yourself to be able to write. Others can only give you knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: book review
Review: WRITING TECHNIQUES "Language is the road of culture. A writer must have a philosophy of language as well as a philosophy of life. You need to know how language works." This is one of the interesting things Rita Mae Brown has to say in her book Starting From Scratch A Different Kind Of Writers' Manual. The book is full of helpful hints to improve your writing. The chapter titles are very catchy, for example "The Chicken or the Egg," "Guzzling and Snorting," and "Sex, Love and Rock-n-Roll." This book says if you are fit and at your best you will write better. The next section of this book begins with several helpful and useful tips to improve your writing technique through exercises. She says, "We need to think of words as units of consciousness...The sensible place to start is with individual words. A word leaves a smoke trail behind it that curls into the past. Every word is surrounded by complex energies. There are meanings underneath a word as well as its obvious meaning." Over all the book gives great information and makes you think about writing in a new perspective. In the last chapter she says we should forget what our English teachers taught us; "don't think in terms of good and bad right now. You must think in terms of what works and what doesn't. Once you are secure about the mechanics of literature, you can apply yourself to the aesthetics of literature."