Writing for dummies
I’m reading this book 'a novel in a year'. It’s not like I wanna write a novel or believe in any writing how-tos can possibly help. what intrigued me is that someone has the heart and courage to initiate such book when they know they are trying to accomplish mission impossible. As I always believed that creative writing is like releasing one’s inner monster, one writes only because he/she can not bear to have them constrained anymore.
I have to say, Louise Doughty has done a good job. She certainly grabbed my attention and somehow attracted me to the end. anyone who knows me will have no problem agree on that I have an attention spam of a puppy.
She claims that writing is certainly about innate talent, but it also has much to do with putting together nuts and bolts and anyone who says it isn’t is lying and afraid of competition. The course founder of creative writing at Uni of East Anglia, Malcolm Bradbury, said, ‘ninety per cent of what you hear in this room is going to be completely useless to you, but the ten percent that is useful will be invaluable.’
The book includes several writing exercises, which I find very interesting. One is gather info of a remote foreign country that you have no previous knowledge of and make up a character. One is writing a paragraph from the point of view of an inanimate object. Bo Fowler once wrote an entire novel from the point of view of a shopping trolley! (Wow, I gotta have a look at that!).
I have to say, Louise Doughty has done a good job. She certainly grabbed my attention and somehow attracted me to the end. anyone who knows me will have no problem agree on that I have an attention spam of a puppy.
She claims that writing is certainly about innate talent, but it also has much to do with putting together nuts and bolts and anyone who says it isn’t is lying and afraid of competition. The course founder of creative writing at Uni of East Anglia, Malcolm Bradbury, said, ‘ninety per cent of what you hear in this room is going to be completely useless to you, but the ten percent that is useful will be invaluable.’
The book includes several writing exercises, which I find very interesting. One is gather info of a remote foreign country that you have no previous knowledge of and make up a character. One is writing a paragraph from the point of view of an inanimate object. Bo Fowler once wrote an entire novel from the point of view of a shopping trolley! (Wow, I gotta have a look at that!).
