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249th out of 461 books
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706 voters
Views From the Loft
Teachers, exercises, mentors, critiques, humor, and inspiration: these form the fuel all writers need when they get down to work every day. For decades the Loft Literary Center has provided this fuel to an enormous community of writers. Views from the Loft brings together the collected wisdom of that community a its authors, students, and editors a giving anyone the tools...more
Paperback, 372 pages
Published
August 1st 2010
by Milkweed Editions
(first published July 1st 2010)
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There have been plenty of authors who have contributed to the Loft Literary Center over the years and Daniel Slager presents the collected wisdom of it in Views From The Loft.
This anthology for writers is a pretty wild mix of interviews, articles, and essays (or shall I say musings) by a wide array of authors. While the subtitle of the book, A Portable Writer's Workshop, suggests that the book provides actual tips on writing, publishing, critique, etc. it only does so to a certain extent. I felt...more
This anthology for writers is a pretty wild mix of interviews, articles, and essays (or shall I say musings) by a wide array of authors. While the subtitle of the book, A Portable Writer's Workshop, suggests that the book provides actual tips on writing, publishing, critique, etc. it only does so to a certain extent. I felt...more
Books on writing are a mixed bag. On one hand, you've got authors sharing their tips and techniques with you. On the other hand, you've got authors sharing their tips and techniques with you. Unlike many other how-to books, with the easy to follow steps that provide a similar result, when it comes to writing -- and one's writing process -- anything goes.
Sadly, as I only have an ARC, it doesn't include Daniel Slager's introduction which would have been helpful in providing me with some clues as t...more
Sadly, as I only have an ARC, it doesn't include Daniel Slager's introduction which would have been helpful in providing me with some clues as t...more
I feel a bit embarrassed that I've only just finished this book, considering I have an essay in it! It's a hodgepodge anthology of writing advice, so not exactly helpful if you want a logical exploration of the literary life. But there's a lot of rich, fresh perspectives in here. Reading VIEWS is a good testimony to the similarities between genres. I learned just as much from the poets here as I did from the creative nonfiction and fiction writers.
I mean, it's kind of hard to review the many different points of view that make up an anthology. I will say, though, that I was disappointed by the title. I was hoping to read more about "a portable writer's workshop" when instead it read more like a portable writer's conference. But anywhoo. There are some cool essays here, and some that I just outright disagree with (I won't tell you which ones, for either, because it is worth reading and deciding for yourself).
A terrific collection of writing that have appeared in the Loft Literary Center's newsletters over several decades...invaluable to a writer. (Disclosure, I'm a member of the Loft and have been a student of a few of these writers.)
The problem with rating an anthology is that some essays are invariably more appealing than others. The ones I liked here I liked a lot, and the ones I found tedious I disliked a lot. On the whole, I think there were more I found only mediocre than ones I thought really good. The good ones included Mark Doty and Barrie Borich, which made me wonder if they were better because the two are both essay writers, and know how to structure and write essay more effectively than the fiction writers who wr...more
Short essays about all aspects of writing, from inspiration to publication, from a wide range of major writers (Lewis Hyde, Mark Doty, Grace Paley, etc.). Good for quick dips.
I think I've realized I don't really like books on writing...
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