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The Writer's Home Companion: An Anthology of the World's Best Writing Advice, From Keats to Kunitz
Additional Info:
Writing is a solitary sport—but none of us can do it without good company at crucial moments. This spirited collection of inspiring and useful essays and exercises on the craft of writing is the next best thing to having an experienced writer at your side. These twenty-nine pieces, more than half of which have never been published in book form, include selections as unusual and diverse as behaviorist B. F. Skinner's "How to Discover What You Have to Say"; Brett Candlish Millier's investigation of the seventeen drafts of Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art"; Ursula Le Guin's "Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?"; Anne Eisenberg's "E-Mail and the New Epistolary Age"; and Nancy Mair's "The Writer's Thin Skin and Faint Heart." Other contributors include Gloria Naylor, Stanley Kunitz, Bernard Shaw, Natalie Goldberg, Anne Tyler, Rita Dove, Peter Elbow, and Gail Godwin. (From the Publisher)
Table Of Content:
PART I. THE WRITING PROCESS
1. Preparation
"Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?" (Ursula Le Guin)
"The Love of Books" (Gloria Naylor)
"So You Want to Be a Writer?" (Donald M. Murray)
"Still Just Writing" (Anne Tyler)
2. Beginning
"Freewriting" (Peter Elbow)
"Getting Started: Writing Suggestions" (Patricia Cumming)
"Model Train of Thought No. 1" (Lawrence Weinstein)
"Write Anyplace" (Natalie Goldberg )
"How to Discover What You Have to Say: A Talk to Students" (B. F. Skinner )
3. Revision
Houghton Library manuscript pages:
First Page of "To Autumn" ( John Keats)
Manuscript Page of Mrs Warren's Profession (Bernard Shaw)
Manuscript Page from the New York Edition of The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
From Writers at Work: The "Paris Review" Interviews (Ernest Hemingway)
"Elusive Mastery: The Drafts of Elizabeth Bishop's 'One Art'" (Brett Candish Millier)
"Options for Getting Feedback" (Peter Elbow)
4. Poetry
"Climbing the Jacob's Ladder" (Ruth Whitman)
"A Wild Surmise: Motherhood and Poetry" (Alicia Ostriker)
The Wisdom of the Body" (Stanley Kunitz)
"To Make a Prairie" (Rita Dove)
PART II. BECOMING A WRITER
5. Voice
"Teaching Griselda to Write" (Joan L. Bolker)
"The Watcher at the Gates" (Gail Godwin)
"E-Mail and the New Epistolary Age" (Anne Eisenberg)
"A Room of One's Own is Not Enough" (Joan L. Bolker)
6. Audience
"A Writer's First Readers" (Helen Benedict)
"The Perils and Payoffs of Persistence" (Linda Weltner)
'The Writer's Thin Skin and Faint Heart" (Nancy Mairs)
7. Practice
"Writing as a Practice" (Natalie Goldberg)
"Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts: An Epistemological Inquiry" (William G. Perry Jr.)
"Not Just Writing, Really Writing" (Joan L. Bolker)
Writing is a solitary sport—but none of us can do it without good company at crucial moments. This spirited collection of inspiring and useful essays and exercises on the craft of writing is the next best thing to having an experienced writer at your side. These twenty-nine pieces, more than half of which have never been published in book form, include selections as unusual and diverse as behaviorist B. F. Skinner's "How to Discover What You Have to Say"; Brett Candlish Millier's investigation of the seventeen drafts of Elizabeth Bishop's poem "One Art"; Ursula Le Guin's "Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?"; Anne Eisenberg's "E-Mail and the New Epistolary Age"; and Nancy Mair's "The Writer's Thin Skin and Faint Heart." Other contributors include Gloria Naylor, Stanley Kunitz, Bernard Shaw, Natalie Goldberg, Anne Tyler, Rita Dove, Peter Elbow, and Gail Godwin. (From the Publisher)
Table Of Content:
PART I. THE WRITING PROCESS
1. Preparation
"Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?" (Ursula Le Guin)
"The Love of Books" (Gloria Naylor)
"So You Want to Be a Writer?" (Donald M. Murray)
"Still Just Writing" (Anne Tyler)
2. Beginning
"Freewriting" (Peter Elbow)
"Getting Started: Writing Suggestions" (Patricia Cumming)
"Model Train of Thought No. 1" (Lawrence Weinstein)
"Write Anyplace" (Natalie Goldberg )
"How to Discover What You Have to Say: A Talk to Students" (B. F. Skinner )
3. Revision
Houghton Library manuscript pages:
First Page of "To Autumn" ( John Keats)
Manuscript Page of Mrs Warren's Profession (Bernard Shaw)
Manuscript Page from the New York Edition of The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
From Writers at Work: The "Paris Review" Interviews (Ernest Hemingway)
"Elusive Mastery: The Drafts of Elizabeth Bishop's 'One Art'" (Brett Candish Millier)
"Options for Getting Feedback" (Peter Elbow)
4. Poetry
"Climbing the Jacob's Ladder" (Ruth Whitman)
"A Wild Surmise: Motherhood and Poetry" (Alicia Ostriker)
The Wisdom of the Body" (Stanley Kunitz)
"To Make a Prairie" (Rita Dove)
PART II. BECOMING A WRITER
5. Voice
"Teaching Griselda to Write" (Joan L. Bolker)
"The Watcher at the Gates" (Gail Godwin)
"E-Mail and the New Epistolary Age" (Anne Eisenberg)
"A Room of One's Own is Not Enough" (Joan L. Bolker)
6. Audience
"A Writer's First Readers" (Helen Benedict)
"The Perils and Payoffs of Persistence" (Linda Weltner)
'The Writer's Thin Skin and Faint Heart" (Nancy Mairs)
7. Practice
"Writing as a Practice" (Natalie Goldberg)
"Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts: An Epistemological Inquiry" (William G. Perry Jr.)
"Not Just Writing, Really Writing" (Joan L. Bolker)