Being a Writer

A must have book for any and all writers - whether hobbyists, part timers, freelancers, or those in between.

I enjoy this book immensely! I will recommend it to every writer I know!

This is a simple book on writing anecdotes from well known authors. I found my favorites: Zora Neale Hurston and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. There were short quotes and longer quotes (or statements, rather) peppered between drawings. I appreciated the lovely way it was presented in the ebook. However, there was a lot of space left on several of the pages, so I don't know if I was missing something. This book can be used as a daily affirmation to encourage and uplift the writer as inspiration to write or pull you out of to doldrums when you're severely blocked.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Nice book where a lot of authors tell their opinion about becoming a writer, failing, methods and means and what does "being a writer" means to them. Fascinating but I would recommend it to read it all not all together. this is a book to savor slowly.

Libro carino, dove vengono raccolte le opinioni di moltissimi scrittori famosi su cosa significhi per loro "scrivere", come ci sono arrivati, i loro fallimenti ed i loro metodi per scrivere e concludere un romanzo. Per certi versi affascinante, ma sconsiglio una lettura consecutiva, piuttosto sarebbe meglio leggerne un pochino ogni tanto, perché questo é un volume da gustare piano piano.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The blurbs from various authors were inspiring and helpful for a novice writer or anyone contemplating writing! And this would make a great gift for the new writer in your life!

A charming coffee table book of wit and wisdom from a wide variety of authors. Would make the perfect gift for a writer.

As somebody who enjoys both writing and reading, this was an enjoyable assemblage of thoughts and musings by famous and acclaimed writers about their work. Being a Writer explores exactly what it means to be one, with advice from people who have lived through the whole messy business on their own.

Being a Writer is split into different sections: becoming a writer, methods and means, failing, the art of writing and a sense of an ending. Each chapter features different quotes, sometimes as short as a sentence, other times more like little essays on the topic. Reading through this made me realise quickly how there's no right or wrong when it comes to writing: you might be like H.P. Lovecraft, thinking that you need the night-world to get inspiration or think like Leo Tolstoy, who always wrote in the morning, when one's head is "particularly fresh".

There are other topics on which the featured writers vehemently contradict each other, one of them being the writer's block. You've got people like Philip Pullman ("Do plumbers get plumber's block?") who don't believe in the existence of such, or Charles Bukowski, who provides more of a practical solution ("Writing about writer's block is better than not writing at all."), but also writers like Neil Gaiman who say it's a very real thing.

This anthology is one of those books that make a nice present for people who write and it's certainly fun to flick and read through, even though it didn't have a long-lasting impact on me and has a bit of an odd flow to it, jumping from quoting Jane Austen to Henning Mankell and J.K. Rowling back to Charles Dickens.

A lovely collection of quotes and advice from our favourite authors past and present on all areas of writing from becoming one to methods, failing, and the art of writing. Another great gift for the writer in your life. I really enjoyed this book and I'm certain I'll return to it for comfort and inspiration.

Lots of writing advice and expertise from all kinds of successful writers. They share their love of writing, how they craft and the revision process. Amazing to read inspiring quotes from these writers. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY
Being A Writer is a collection of information and diverse opinions by essayists, fiction writers, and non-fiction writers of different kinds on the subject of writing.

WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?
Writers of all kinds and different stages of development.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT
The diversity of the collections is impressive. Short story writers rarely feature in a collection like this, but this book has many. Also, this book goes beyond the normal old, dead, white European writers to contemporary African and Asian writers perspectives on the craft - there are many voices to hear from here.

MEMORABLE PASSAGE

"The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle. Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to go to sleep and unafraid to wake up. Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss." Joan Didion


"One night a friend lent me a book of short stories by Franz Kafka. I went back to the pension where I was staying and began to read ‘The Metamorphosis’. The first line almost knocked me off the bed. I was so surprised. The first line reads, ‘As Gregor Samsa awoke that morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect . . .’ When I read the line I thought to myself that I didn’t know anyone was allowed to write things like that. If I had known, I would have started writing a long time ago. So I immediately started writing short stories." Gabriel García Márquez


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Being A Writer: Advice, Musings, Essays, and Experiences From The World's Greatest Authors by Trace Elborough and Helen Gordon is available to buy from on all major online bookstores.

Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group for review copy.

If you need a good overview of what the writing life is like, this is the book for you. I've never seen a collection of quotes more tailored to giving a well needed perspective on what the role of a writer is. Well done.

I really loved reading this . It contains a whole collection of quotes, essays and advice about all aspects and stages of the writing process from a wide selection of well-known authors of different genres, so aspiring writers of all areas will find inspiration and interest in this book . I particularly loved it because I am currently in the process of writing so I found it useful .
A wonderful present for anyone who loves reading and writing .

This is a wonderful collection of inspiration and advice that would be fantastic for readers and writers alike. I highly enjoyed the format and sections, and the various lengths of quotes from such amazing and varied authors was also really enjoyable.

An interesting concept for a book. Advice from the world's greatest writers on how, when and where you should write. A book you can dip into different sections to gain advice. I loved the format, the design and the look of the book. Some of the quotes were incredibly inspiring and influenced my own practices as a writer. I'd highly recommend it.

This book was kindly provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

As the synopsis so aptly states, this is an "inspiring assemblage of wit, wisdom and hard-won practical advice from some of the world’s greatest authors". The book is sectioned in easily-defined and navigable sections, so writers on all stages of their creative journey can find the advice they desire.

Both the writers and the advice they delivered varied greatly. I found many of my personal favourites along with their well-known anecdotes, but this was also peppered with the lesser-known and I found much that was new to me. Many of these notions also contradicted the other, but rather than seeing this as a failure of the book it, instead, showed how there really were no definites, rules, or rights and wrongs on this creative journey. Any writer can find the advice they need to bolster their confidence and can find a mirror of their own writing process in the varied advice of the greatest writers, from both the present and the past.

I found this book to be an inspiration for writing. There are tips and advice from other authors about when to write, what to write about, I think this book is a good for writers at any stage of their writing, whether it is as a career or hobby. I think that it can help to inspire and motivate or inspire those who write, no matter their age or skill level. I highly recommend this book!

Loved this book full of relections, advice and quotes from many different writers from different genres and times.

This book as a hidden gem - especially for aspiring writers. It is full of advice and musings from established writers mixed with truly gorgeous artwork. Would highly recommend to any writers to have on their bookshelf for when they are in need of a little boost.

Thank you for recommending this book! I love books on writing. Unfortunately, the book expired on Adobe Digital Editions before I got a chance to read it. :(