Customer Reviews

Creative Writer's Handbook (4th Edition)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though the text has some good discussion of the writing process and useful exercises, the authors tend to set down at times questionable "rules" and much too much advice. The price is also out of line for most students in public universities and colleges, especially adult education students who want to write as a means of personal enrichment--and it is the latter type of student rather than the next Hemingway or Frost who is most likely to register for a creative writing courrse.

The other people reviewing this should have kept in mind that this book was intended to introduce novices to the basic concepts of creative writing. I did not feel it was condescending or distracting. I thought it was helpful and thorough as well as specific. Not meant for the literary types who've convinced themselves that they are "writers" and therefore above the practical advice this book offers. It was used as a text book for a class I took: "Intro to Creative Writing." I found it very helpful and useful. I learned a lot!

Caution: This edition is filled with typos.

While I'm not the most prolific or most experienced writer, I am familiar enough with the field to not be talked down to like a 6th grader in a father-son chat. While the authors attempts to be "chumy" with the reader, they really do no more than patronize and make apparent their academic lack. There were no new ideas presented here--even for a beginning text, I would recommend looking elsewhere for a better basic understanding of the guidelines that will help your work work.

There are already dozens of creative writing "how to" books on the market...Why make a student spend this much for a book that's overloaded and at times condescending? Too much advice can intimidate a student; far more useful are exercises and suggestions from practicing writers.

There are already dozens of creative writing "how to" books on the market...Why make a student spend this much for a book that's overloaded and at times condescending.

There are already dozens of creative writing "how to" books on the market...Why make a student spend this much for a book that's overloaded and at times condescending.

While I am not a novice at writing literary works, I must admit the book does come in handy. The text was required for my Creative Writing course here at college and it was very useful. Perfect for those in need of a reference material or those fledglings interested in learning to write.

This book is great. Not only will it be very helpful with the creative writing class but my daughter said she'll be keeping it for future referance. This is not a university required book she'll be getting rid of.

Creativity is executing an art form, and with art, there is no such thing as absolute perfection, there is always room for improvement. Now in an updated and expanded fourth edition, "Creative Writer's Handbook" is a guidebook for writers of all sorts to better gain a mastery of their art form, be it short fiction, poetry, or other artistic endeavors that use the spoken language as their primary medium. Encouraging readers to enhance and ever improve their craft, Jason and Lefcowitz have put out a text that will benefit many a college age creative writing student well, as a free study manual or as a textbook for creative writing classes. "Creative Writer's Handbook" is a deftly composed book, highly recommended for community and college collections aimed at the art of writing.

My book came on time, but the packaging was all ripped apart, and the book itself, although still in decent condition, is bent and obviously used about a thousand times over.