Thursday, February 23, 2006

I'm not a big fan of "how-to" guides, especially when the creative process is involved. I'm convinced the best writing is organic, spontaneous, visceral.

Nevertheless, I sometimes catch myself browsing technical guides to sure-fire literary success, temporarily immersing myself in the fiction that it really is that easy. Here's a good example.

1 comment:

JohnFen said...

I agree. Although, as in any craft, there are rules of thumb and techniques that can and should be learned, of course.

In the end, though, I think Sinclair Lewis got it right. He was a speaker at a writing class and asked "How many of you are really serious about being writers?" Every hand went up, and he said "Well, why aren't you all home writing?"