Customer Reviews

Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft (Penguin Academics Series)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Not to start a war here, but Janet Burroway's book *is* fresh, and it's the best, most comprehensive multigenre text on the market. And it's affordable both for university students and writers who want to use it on their own. No, it's not full of inspirational gobbledygook and gimmicky suggestions to touch the heart of the writer. Instead, it's a very smart book that asks the writer to join in the long histories of the genres it discusses and offers the most succinctly articulated descriptions of techniques and approaches that will not only get a writer started writing but that will also help that writer understand what makes good writing good. The most innovative aspect of Burroway's book is that it takes creative writing as a whole and discusses those basic elements that make all writing good, from the need for concrete imagery that says something to the need for narrative to move and develop across a work. And it offers dozens and dozens of recent examples to illustrate its points. As an anthology alone, this book would be a good read. But Burroway's comments very aptly help a reader to understand what is working well in each of her excerpts. No, it doesn't offer up elaborate metaphors about bones or light or any inner writing child as a way to nurture the soul of the writer. But from my experience as a writing instructor, it's not the soul of the beginning writer that needs nurturing. This book understands quite well the need to nurture the mind of the writer first.

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Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft (third edition)
By Janet Burroway
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Reviewed by C J Singh (Berkeley, CA) Feb 1, 2010

(This is an addendum to my review of the previous edition.)
Janet Burroway's Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft, 3rd Edition adds several new short stories, nonfictions, poems, dramas and drops some of the ones in the second edition, keeping the overall page count of the book about the same. Notably enhanced are the chapters on drama and on poetry. The drama section includes several examples of a newly popular genre, the ten-minute play.

Although marketed as a textbook for Creative Writing 101, this book is the best primer for self-teaching. On completing the brief "try this" exercises included, you'll acquire a good understanding of the craft elements and be able to judge whether the comments on your work by other apprentice writers in a workshop are on the mark or not -- yes, even positive, flattering comments ("I loved this image...") can mislead you.

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Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft (second edition)
By Janet Burroway
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Reviewed by C J Singh (Berkeley, CA) on April 8, 2007
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Unlike the reviews to date, my review focuses on the current edition.
The overall organization of the book is unchanged. The first part comprises chapters on the five elements of craft common to all genres of imaginative writing: Image; Voice; Character; Setting; Story. The second part comprises chapters on the four genres: Creative Nonfiction; Fiction; Poetry; Drama.

Among the new examples in the second edition are the following: contemporary short stories such as Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies," William Trevor's "Sitting with the Dead," Ron Carlson's "Big foot Stole My Wife"; contemporary poems by Billy Collins, Annie Tibble, and Henry Reed: contemporary creative nonfiction by Gayle Pemberton, Bill Capossere, and William Kittredge; contemporary drama by Carol Real, Jim Quinn, and Josh ben Friedman.

Also new are a series of developmental exercises, located in the basic techniques section at the end of each chapter. This series is designed to facilitate readers "toward a finished piece."

Burroway has wisely retained many of the exemplary selections from the first edition such as Charles Baxter's "Snow," Donald Barthelme's "The School, and Robert Olen Butler's "Missing."

Its unique multigenre approach, lucid expositions, and "Try This" prompts make IMAGINATIVE WRITING the best primer for teaching yourself.

I couldn't disagree more with the one-star review below. I find this such a useful and helpful multi-genre book that I have adopted it for use in my creative writing class here at the University of Alabama. Just an excellent book!

This book is probably my favorite book of the semester! It has so many useful tips in it to help you on your journey to becomming a creative writer! If you enjoy writing and want to gain some new skill, I definately recommend this book :)

I was introduced to this book through a creative writing class and I return to it time and time again. It is filled with helpful tips, exercises, lessons, examples and readings. If you buy only one book on the craft of writing, please let it be this one. You won't regret it. From scene, characterization, dialogue, and from arc to developed story, every element of the craft is explained, with examples, exercises and challenges to hone one's writing - if one is just starting out or has published works. This book is a must read.

Burroway's book is just OK. That's about the gist of it. Her methodology is ok, devoting a chapter to the essential ingredients of creative writing, i.e., style, image, tone, voice, point of view, etc., but she sticks writing samples together, regardless of genre, so you'll get a short story and an essay along with some poems to illustrate a particular mode. This can be confusing to beginning writers since you pretty much have to overlook the form of the writing in analyzing the particular point she is attempting to stress. It's nice to try to integrate playwriting samples and exercises into a creative writing book but since performance is such an essential part of theatre, without some background in theatre going, the beginning writer may be putting "de horse before Decartes." (Sorry, John Simon, for stealing your line--but I acknowledge your cleverness). The writing exercises at the end of each chapter are typically adequate and she does offer some "body work" exercises borrowed from acting warm-ups, but in the end, it all doesn't quite mesh. I recommend "Mooring Against the Tide" for its methodology, informed examples--both from "professionals" and students--and its treatment of creative writing both as a craft and an ineffable art. At the very least, if you do find this book helpful, you should have an intuitive sense WHY people feel compelled to do creative writing. Otherwise, this book might just contribute to the M.F.A. style of creative writing so prevalent these days that come out of writing programs by the highly verbal, affluent kids who want to show off how clever they are, and rush off to medical school a couple of years after they aren't "making it."

I am an aspiring writer myself and I must say this book has been a great help. It has a chapter dedicated to every element necessary for a well written story; Character, Setting, Voice, Plot. There are also very useful exercises that help you develop your skills in each of the necessary aspects. It also helps you write every day, which is something any writer should be doing. Over all it is a very helpful book and in the short time I have had it I have poured out two short stories that, in my opinion, are much more full than anything I have written before.

Well, the ideas it lists are okay and some of the exercises did help me. However, I feel like this book could have given more information. There are better books our there, however.

I was required to purchase this book for a Creative Writing class. It has great example and the instruction is easy to read. The book was in great condition and shipping took only 2 days.

AMAZING BOOK. I had a 220 creative writing class in BYU-Provo and we used this book. It is amazing how well structured this is. The information is very extensive but not wordy. It goes into a lot of different things, but it is understandable. Great examples. Very interesting short-stories. I was very happy with the book. Highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to get ideas for creative writing or just to read the short stories.