Writers on Writing

Interesting insights with bountiful tips, thoughts, suggestions, exercises and reflections on the writing process

This is a terrific book full of inspiring tips for writers or students.
As an educator it makes me more than ever want to push students to think and reflect like writers in delivering their work.

Writers on Writing is quite different from the majority of books I’ve read about writing. Instead of a straight up guide dealing with the writing process and things like plot, characterization, world building and the like, Chip Scanlan treats us to 55 different takes on the process as he asked authors, editors, and journalists to answer 4 simple questions. Each chapter is bite sized (only a few pages long), offering up opinions/tips/ tidbits on what each of those interviewed feels are the keys to being a successful writer. It’s a quick read and there are definitely some real pearls of wisdom that make it worth reading.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Writers on Writing.

As a Writer, I found this book comforting. The author posed four questions to fifty five writers and the result was a book that provides insights into writing, journalism, editing and the love for stories.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I loved the writing exercises in this book. As a writer, I’m always looking out for helpful and educational books to help me along my journey. This was unique in that the prompts weren’t the typical ones you see repeated. I feel like I learned a lot, and much I’ll be able to apply to my writing life.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author, for the chance to read and review this book.

Tips Of The Trade…
Useful writing handbook. Tips of the trade in bite size portions from those in the trade - a fair variety of both writers and editors. Plenty of little gems of information and encouragement together with writing prompts. A worthwhile read.

I enjoyed this book. This book was easy to read, and it held loads practical and useful information.

An incredible act of generosity. There were intriguing insights with thoughtful tips. The suggestions and idea were great. I found this book extremely useful.

As an avid reader I have often thought that I would love to have the ability to write a book, and I’m certain that I’m not alone in that thought amongst the vast community of readers. If you are one of those people then you really need to read this book!
I wasn’t sure what to expect, having read a number of books that proclaim to help you become a writer, but that fall sadly short of the mark. However, from the first few pages I was hooked and couldn’t devour everything this book has to offer quickly enough.
Covering an array of writing elements, topics and issues, this book is full of short, sharp, golden nuggets of information, not just from people who talk about writing, but from those who actually do it and are offering up these nuggets from their lived experience.
I loved all of the inspiring quotes, as a fan of a good, meaningful and well delivered quote, I can honestly say that these have been well chosen and fit in with what this book is aiming to achieve. But more than that, one of the best bits in this book are the coaching tips, which I thought were really on point.
At the end, there is a section containing short pen pictures of each of the contributors and their literary achievements. This, I found, adds credibility to the advice they shared, which is likely to appease any skeptics out there regarding how ‘real life’ their experiences are.
In short, I loved this book and I highly recommend it.
My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

I got an advanced digital review copy of this book via NetGalley and I devoured the book. I am a writer. So, every piece of advice, every coaching tip and every quote was on point for me.

The short and concise format works really well as it is just the best parts.

My hearty congratulation to the editors for stripping away anything that was not value adding and just leaving the gems in the book.

If you are a writer (and this can be almost a metaphor for whatever you want to be), this book has some seriously good advice and tips. Must READ!

You'll learn new things. You'll be reminded of writing truths you know but have perhaps forgotten or, worse, ignored. You'll even look on long established writing habits with a new eye. Even if you consider yourself "just a reader" you'll come away with a newfound respect for the words, the heart and soul of the writer, that you read on the page. And, who know, you might even be inspired to set down a few of your own words.

I won't detail the information shared as it will apply to each in different ways. Instead, I'll simply say that this one should be on your bookshelf. Thanks to #NetGalley and #BooksGoSocial for allowing me a peek into some of these author's minds and work habits.

Writers on Writing asks distinguished authors four questions about their writing life. Although the questions are the same, the answers are all widely different and I really enjoyed the pearls of wisdom that can be gathered from each interview. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with Rosalind Bentley, Bruce DeSilva and Bronwen Dickey. What makes this book such a gem is that you can keep dipping into it to discover more useful tips that will benefit where you are in your own writing process. Overall, I highly recommend this.

This little book is a treasure trove of quotes and quips and inspirational insights on writing. I highly recommend it as a gift for any writer in your life. I only shaved a point off because of the misleading title; the book doesn't really take you inside the lives of 55 writers, rather it presents thoughts or ideas from 55 writers. These thoughts are valuable, though, and the book is full of encouragement.

Thanks to Netgalley and Chip Scanlan for providing me with a free ecopy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a writer myself, I appreciated this book. Full of interesting facts, and information. Recommended.

I liked this book. Different perspectives and advice from writers and exercises included. A great writing tool. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

As a literature student, I get interested not only in the final works of authors but in the actual process of writing too. To think that one just sits down and creates a masterpiece in one go is almost unheard-of. Many of the authors get stuck mid-story and need a help of a reliable editor or just a new point of view. And many times they might need a bit of good advice from other professional authors to motivate them to keep going. Writers on Writing provides exactly that - short and easily applicable tips, tricks, and advice from successful writers, journalists, and editors. I think that everybody who aspires to start writing more and better will find something valuable inside. Even though I am not an aspiring author myself (the will might come one day, who knows), I enjoy writing a semi-consistent diary. I found that the tips from this book helped me in writing more consistently and vividly. I would recommend this book to everybody interested in writing or as a great gift for your friends who constantly postpone writing their bestseller until tomorrow.

It may be a strange coincidence that <i>Writers on Writing</i> can be abbreviated as 'WOW' but honestly, this book deserves all the plaudits it has received. Perhaps its greatest asset is being a self-help book unlike so many others, in the sense that this is not restricted to one person's ideology or mantra but the generous reflections of more than 50 professional writers and decades of experience. It is a totally inspiring read and easily worth twice the cover price. A wealth of information and tips. My second reading was arguably more enjoyable than the first. Thoroughly recommended for established and wannabe writers alike.
My thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Writers on Writing by Chip Scanlan was a 4 ⭐️. I picked this up not because I wanted to write a novel but because I want to write better reviews. I average about 100 books a year and I want to better explain my thoughts. Anybody??
I’ve haven’t realized until recently how important a review is. How I can help “get the word out” about great books. Bad books. I’ve felt many times that I should’ve done a better review. I really want to make meaning with my words. Was this book helpful for that purpose? Maybe?? We’ll see.

About this book. It’s 55 interviews with a 4 question format. The author asks that I start this by first answering the questions myself.
My take away. Most of the authors biggest surprises were that they were writers and actually still doing it. And many said that writing never got easier.
Things I learned:
• writing is a craft that can be mastered.
• It’s helpful to be a “super-observer”.
• Learn from others.
• Read constantly.
• Write from memory and clean it up later.
• Do what make you happy.
• Be a sponge and lower your standards.
Overall this felt like a layer back interview or podcast format. I gleamed some thoughtful insight. Hopefully inspiration.
Thanks BooksGoSocial via NetGalley.

A great book of anyone who loves the craft of writing. Advice and case studies of authors from a variety of backgrounds show that there are many ways to skin a cat and many ways to write a book about skinning cats.

A helpful book for aspiring writers, and those already writing, with plenty of lessons and suggestions. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Writers on Writing was a good read, with lots of useful information. I think it would be helpful anyone currently writing or aspiring to do so.

Fun book by writers for writers. I appreciated the honest insight they are provided. I liked that I could flip it open to literally any page and get some pearls of wisdom

I teach 5th grade writing so have loved using this as a teaching tool and incorporating the tips, hints, and anecdotes into my mini-lessons. This will be a book that I will continue to refer to as a guide/anthology to make my instruction better and help my writers to feel good about taking those writing risks!

I have been considering writing a book for some time and have recently been reading more memoirs and trying to learn more about the process and how one goes about writing a book. So when I found this book on Netgalley, I thought it would be a great place to learn more.

Writers on writing isn’t like your usual writing guide, giving you thoughts and ideas on what you ‘should’ be doing. Instead, it’s a collection of 55 different takes on the process. Chip Scanlan has asked various other authors, editors and journalists to answer four questions:
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned as a writer?
What has been the biggest surprise of your writing life?
If you had to use a metaphor to describe yourself as a writer, what would it be?
What’s the best piece of writing advice anyone ever gave you?
Followed by tips for your journal (ideas of what you should or could write about).

This provides an entirely different but interesting view on writing. Each chapter is another person and is just a couple of pages long at most, so you can get through them relatively quickly and pick up some great tips. You can also quickly dip in and out of this book; you don’t have to read it in a set order.

Each person offers a different tip, opinion, or information on what they consider the keys to being a successful writer. There are some great pearls of wisdom inside, and it makes a lovely little book to pick up and flip through for some quick inspiration.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. It has lots of good information and has journal prompts to help you try to incorporate what each writer discusses. I have enjoy reading this book. I may even try my hand at writing again. I haven’t written a poem for a few months. Perhaps eventually I will try to write a book. It has always been a pipe dream of mine.

This book gives answers to four questions of 55 different writers, with as many assignments to get you thinking. I really like the format, because it provided a lot of varying insights as well as means to apply those insights to my own writing.

Any aspiring writer will enjoy this book. It is full of tips from actual accomplished writers that will motivate and inspire you. It'll also make your struggles feel normal as you begin to recognize that even the best writers go through periods of doubt and writer's block. This is an incredibly helpful and honest resource for all writers. I will definitely be referring back to this book over the years to come. A lovely addition to any writer's library.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for providing a free electronic copy of this book for my honest review. Am incredibly grateful.

Writers on Writing is a fascinating resource for writers and readers alike. Over the course of fifty-five structured interviews with established writers we gain insight that extends the typical how-to novel. The author takes the unique approach of asking the same four questions of each writer which are:

What's the most important lesson you've learned as a writer?
What's been the biggest surprise of your writing life?
If you had to use a metaphor to describe yourself as a writer, what would it be?
What's the best piece of writing advice anyone ever gave you?

While this approach could seem to garner repetitive responses it offers insight into how alike and how different each writer's journey is.

This is a quick and entertaining read for fans of literature.

I enjoyed reading the mini interviews with each other the writer. It was really nice to get so many different perspectives on the same subject. Each writer brought their unique thoughts to the plate, and that was really fun and encouraging.

A collection of thoughts from various writers, all of them answering the same four questions.

The questions:
What is the most important lesson you've learned as a Writer?
What has been the biggest surprise of your writing life?
If you had to use a metaphor to describe yourself as a writer, what would it be?
What's the best piece of writing advice anyone ever gave you?

I'll be honest, I came to this wondering if I was about to read a whole bunch of very similar pieces of advice, but the range of talent and capability that has been assembled to write this is staggering, and the answers given to the questions range from the whimsical to the direct, from the reasonable to the outrageous. This is not only an excellent resource for writers, but also for anyone interested in being creative, because it shows the nature and extent to which all of us differ, and while we're all our own person, similarities can be seen to what we do and how we do it.

Every person who gave their time for this book is an accomplished writer, and it's humbling to see them be honest with the reader in describing who they are and what they do. For me, the most fascinating thing about this were the answers to the writing advice, which went from "Always eat breakfast" all the way to "Write horrible messy drafts and don't get hung up on how ugly they are."

This is a superb book, interesting for everyone, essential for writers.

With thanks to Netgalley and the Author for the chance to read the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this free ebook in exchange for my honest feedback!

This was such an interesting read from Chip Scanlan - he interviewed 55 authors, editors, and journalists and asked them about their careers, writing process, and any advice they had to give aspiring writers.

I initially thought this was going to be more of a narrative how-to piece but I actually enjoyed hearing from the other writers who have already had crazy success in this field. I also loved the prompts at the end of each chapter to help you apply what you've just learned.

Very useful book for anyone who is interested in the world of writing!

If you're passionate about writing. Whether a fiction or a non-fiction writer. This book will help you learn the skill of writing with the help of the best authors. And by author and award-winning journalist Chip Scanlan who has over five decades of experience as an accomplished craftsman. Now he’s here to share invaluable advice for achieving the career of your dreams.
Writers on Writing: Inside the lives of 55 distinguished writers and editors is an empowering collection that reveals what lies behind the visionary brains of the very best wordsmiths. Through inspiring interviews, you’ll understand the facts and practical processes needed to conquer the demanding profession of journalism and creative nonfiction. And by applying these key tips to your work, you’ll soon gain the skills and knowledge to stand head and shoulders above the crowd.
I love this book, it gave me information on the jargon language writers use. I now know that to be a good writer you must follow a certain structure.
This is the best book if you're an aspiring writer.

As a wannabe writer myself I'm always keen to get my hands on more books about writing. The opportunity to delve straight into the minds of other writers is invaluable, and I really learned some good tips in this book. One of the biggest takes I took from it is writing is a craft that like any craft, can be mastered, with hard work, patience, perseverance and practice - and that for most authors, it still takes all these things, every day, with every book, no matter how successful you are. I found that pretty motivating.

I'm a huge fan of the interview format and I'd love to see this series continued with more authors (particularly more fantasy or sci-fi authors!) - perhaps even whole genre takes?

An absolute must read if you love writing. Wonderful collections of thoughts that can inspire and teach people about writing. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Writers on Writing: Inside the lives of 55 distinguished writers and editors by Chip Scanlan and Ray Hoy is a great collection of information and writing tips. This book is arranged in very short chapters with a reflection about a writer’s habits and a .quote to ponder. Writers will particularly love this book. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I learned an enormous amount about not just writing, but the lives of these fantastic authors. Really compelling, interesting and full of useful pieces of information that I’ll remember for a long time.

Chip Scanlan's book is filled with brief interviews with authors and writers in which they share one piece of advice that stuck with them throughout their careers. It is a fascinating insight into the mind and processes of some of the amazing writers out there. And the interviews are brief, only a couple of pages which makes it the perfect book to go through slowly with one person a day, or to binge read.

It took me a while to get through this, but only because I usually don´t read non-fiction. But a book on writing? Yes please. It had a great variety of tipps and tricks and got a lot out of it.

An engaging read that brought inspiration and wisdom and made me think more intentionally about my own writing practice.

Good insights for beginners, but for those more experienced, I'm not sure there's much to be found here, but lots to be at least reinforced, so that was interesting.
A good, comprehensive read for what the book presents itself as.

I thank the publisher, and Netgalley for my opportunity to review this book.