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Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing
Twelve years in the makingBreathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing is a must-read for students of creative writing. This collection is comprised of two sets of twelve essays each. "Materials" reflects on the history and animate nature of the objects we use in the act of writing, from computers, to pens and pencils, right down to paper. Warland subverts our assumption...more
Paperback, 179 pages
Published
June 1st 2010
by Cormorant Books
(first published 2010)
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The questions this author asks are wonderful ones that need answering. What's bogging down my narrative? How do I draw the reader in? What might be causing the unfolding narrative to be murky? Unfortunately, specific, practical answers are literally hard to find in her narrative. I did a quick outline of the book and came up with a few, but they are so well hidden in her esoteric, precious examples and tangents, that I would never have waded through them if I hadn't been assigned this book for a...more
I’ve read my share of how-to writing books over the years. After all, writing is a lifelong learning process, so when a colleague recommended this book, I had to pick it up. Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing is a collection of essays mixed with interview segments about the act of writing, being a writer, and the all important—but often overlooked—preparation for writing. With more than forty years of writing and publishing experience, author Betsy Warland discusses this topic with a...more
Most importantly, for this reader, Warland's pedagogy encourages an encounter with the powerful psycho-dynamic motivating forces to writing, and discusses how understanding them can guide approaches to writing them down most effectively.
This book reflects on the writing process through a series of essays, capturing the feeling and experience of writing better than any other I've read. It's a pleasant and an inspiring read.
"Is a piece of grass a narrative?" Perhaps I should have known from the title that this is a self-relexive work, one that was more fun for the author to write than for the reader to absorb. That said, some pages reveal truths other writing books do not. The section on 'proximity' in narrative is particularly smart. Warland has a master's touch at the level of the sentence, but somebody should have stopped her from repeatedly referencing her own writing.
fantastic read. amazing flow of thought. has a lot of great invaluable insights you would be hard pressed to find on the act and process of writing.
This book is quietly deceptive. There are some real gems in there. Just keep reading.
Unique perspective and a balm when the going gets tough.
May 30, 2013
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