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So You Want to Write (2nd Edition): How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction and Memoir
The new expanded edition of the bestseller Booklist calls, "A must-have for would-be writers!" The one book a fiction or memoir writer needs, focusing on beginnings, character, dialogue, research, work habits, plot, memory, dealing with deeply personal material, and publishing.
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2001
43 people are currently reading
249 people want to read
About the author
Marge Piercy
108 books931 followersMarge Piercy is an American poet, novelist, and social activist. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Gone to Soldiers, a sweeping historical novel set during World War II.
Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for Poetry and Fiction (1957) enabled her to finish college and spend some time in France, and her formal schooling ended with an M.A. from Northwestern University. Her first book of poems, Breaking Camp, was published in 1968.
An indifferent student in her early years, Piercy developed a love of books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. "It taught me that there's a different world there, that there were all these horizons that were quite different from what I could see," she said in a 1984 interview.
As of 2013, she is author of seventeen volumes of poems, among them The Moon is Always Female (1980, considered a feminist classic) and The Art of Blessing the Day (1999), as well as fifteen novels, one play (The Last White Class, co-authored with her third and current husband Ira Wood), one collection of essays (Parti-colored Blocks for a Quilt), one non-fiction book, and one memoir.
Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.
Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic. William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.
Many of Piercy's novels tell their stories from the viewpoints of multiple characters, often including a first-person voice among numerous third-person narratives. Her World War II historical novel, Gone To Soldiers (1987) follows the lives of nine major characters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The first-person account in Gone To Soldiers is the diary of French teenager Jacqueline Levy-Monot, who is also followed in a third-person account after her capture by the Nazis.
Piercy's poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses the same concern with feminist and social issues. Her work shows commitment to the dream of social change (what she might call, in Judaic terms, tikkun olam, or the repair of the world), rooted in story, the wheel of the Jewish year, and a range of landscapes and settings.
She lives in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
(from Wikipedia)
Piercy was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a family deeply affected by the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying at the University of Michigan. Winning a Hopwood Award for Poetry and Fiction (1957) enabled her to finish college and spend some time in France, and her formal schooling ended with an M.A. from Northwestern University. Her first book of poems, Breaking Camp, was published in 1968.
An indifferent student in her early years, Piercy developed a love of books when she came down with rheumatic fever in her mid-childhood and could do little but read. "It taught me that there's a different world there, that there were all these horizons that were quite different from what I could see," she said in a 1984 interview.
As of 2013, she is author of seventeen volumes of poems, among them The Moon is Always Female (1980, considered a feminist classic) and The Art of Blessing the Day (1999), as well as fifteen novels, one play (The Last White Class, co-authored with her third and current husband Ira Wood), one collection of essays (Parti-colored Blocks for a Quilt), one non-fiction book, and one memoir.
Her novels and poetry often focus on feminist or social concerns, although her settings vary. While Body of Glass (published in the US as He, She and It) is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, City of Darkness, City of Light is set during the French Revolution. Other of her novels, such as Summer People and The Longings of Women are set during the modern day. All of her books share a focus on women's lives.
Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) mixes a time travel story with issues of social justice, feminism, and the treatment of the mentally ill. This novel is considered a classic of utopian "speculative" science fiction as well as a feminist classic. William Gibson has credited Woman on the Edge of Time as the birthplace of Cyberpunk. Piercy tells this in an introduction to Body of Glass. Body of Glass (He, She and It) (1991) postulates an environmentally ruined world dominated by sprawling mega-cities and a futuristic version of the Internet, through which Piercy weaves elements of Jewish mysticism and the legend of the Golem, although a key story element is the main character's attempts to regain custody of her young son.
Many of Piercy's novels tell their stories from the viewpoints of multiple characters, often including a first-person voice among numerous third-person narratives. Her World War II historical novel, Gone To Soldiers (1987) follows the lives of nine major characters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The first-person account in Gone To Soldiers is the diary of French teenager Jacqueline Levy-Monot, who is also followed in a third-person account after her capture by the Nazis.
Piercy's poetry tends to be highly personal free verse and often addresses the same concern with feminist and social issues. Her work shows commitment to the dream of social change (what she might call, in Judaic terms, tikkun olam, or the repair of the world), rooted in story, the wheel of the Jewish year, and a range of landscapes and settings.
She lives in Wellfleet on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with her husband, Ira Wood.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 13, 2009
Marge Piercy is a novelist/poet and Ira Wood is a publisher. This collaboration is like a workshop-in-a-book rather than a collection of, for example, writing prompts. I can imagine So You Want to Write: How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction as a text in a college writing class. It's too detailed for a novice to simply pick up and begin writing, but it would be a good resource to study in a group setting, with a month or so of coached reading and writing.
I also like that it's more or less current. The first edition was printed in 2001; the second edition in 2005. With information about rejection letters, FAQs about agents and publishers, and what to expect when you get famous, as well as lessons in creating seductive beginnings, writing a memoir without sounding like a victim, and finding narrative strategies, this is a dense volume you might want to add to your library.
This would be a good book to add to a collection of writing books, but I doubt it would be the only writing book you'll ever need. Get it from the library before you buy it.
I also like that it's more or less current. The first edition was printed in 2001; the second edition in 2005. With information about rejection letters, FAQs about agents and publishers, and what to expect when you get famous, as well as lessons in creating seductive beginnings, writing a memoir without sounding like a victim, and finding narrative strategies, this is a dense volume you might want to add to your library.
This would be a good book to add to a collection of writing books, but I doubt it would be the only writing book you'll ever need. Get it from the library before you buy it.
December 4, 2010
I got so far into this book before I realized it was a book I needed to own so I could mark it up at my discretion. I learned so much just in what I've read so far, and am excited to receive a copy for Christmas (no surprise there... :P) so that I can start over and REALLY get into this book. Plus, I tried just one of the proposed exercises so far, and it was extremely enlightening and has spurned a huge leap in writing where I had previously been struggling with writers' block on a project.
September 9, 2010
One of the best books on writing that I've read (and I dislike most of them.) Lots of practical, nuts-and-bolts advice, and on the whole it strikes the right balance between firmness and compassion.
August 3, 2011
Enjoyable reading, some new tips, some good to remember advice.
September 3, 2011
Some good exercises for my student writers and all writers. Not the most exciting book on writing, but a solid one, especially for reflective/memoir writing
September 15, 2011
Good advise for aspiring writers
August 4, 2018
I liked this, and appreciated their contributions to support emerging writers. The exercises were straight-forward and applicable. It was easy to read and comprehend. The authors propose variations, and often state that examples won't work in every situation, but that in some they will. They're addressing things globally, and without a novel frame-worked and outlined,it was hard to further develop my ideas and continue reading, so I simply noted some thoughts as I went along.
The exercise on creating characters was helpful, but most helpful was the section on usage of dialog.
I recommend reading.
The exercise on creating characters was helpful, but most helpful was the section on usage of dialog.
I recommend reading.
January 4, 2016
The first book I picked up and read as I switch over from mom blogger to fiction author. Certain aspects of this book have provided the direction needed to get my first project off the ground. (!!!) However some of the information about online publishing is woefully out of date, at least in my early 2000s printing.
October 28, 2012
This was a really good book and I learned a lot from it. They treated it as if they were teaching you a class with examples so you could fully understand what they were telling you plus included some exercises and a reading list. I took so many notes, full of so much important information.
March 26, 2009
Not as engaging as some of the other books I have read, but there was some information I was able to use.
September 22, 2013
Extremely helpful, highly recommended for writers of all levels.
December 18, 2017
Ok. I think it has some good ideas.
October 9, 2018
Extremely helpful for someone who hasn't taken an English class in 30 years.
stalled
January 13, 2012No I am not planning to start writing. But I happened to pick this book up after it turned up during some house cleaning, and i was inspired to keep reading. So far it is more about expressing yourself, in any medium, not just writing.
March 23, 2014
i thought it was very helpful.
May 20, 2014
Helpful discussion, more on fiction than memoir. Advice on publishing is dated.
May 25, 2015
A helpful book on writing.
August 4, 2025
Not impressive but mostly good advice, overstating the obvious gets to me a bit but feel this is better as a guide fir a writing group rather than an individual
June 6, 2016
I grab this book from the library and I have learned a lot from it. I have to buy this one for reference in the future. A must have for sure.
August 15, 2007
Not the best writing text out there, but still I picked up a few bits.
July 2, 2016
Good exercises and prompts.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews