Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively [Paperback]

Rebecca McClanahan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1582970254 | ISBN-13: 978-1582970257

In Word Painting, Rebecca McClanahan guides readers through an intriguing examination of description in its many forms. Through her thoughtful instruction and engaging exercises, readers will learn to tap into their senses, develop their powers of observation, and uncover the rich evocative words that accurately portray the images in their mindis eye. She includes dozens of descriptive passages written by master poets and authors to help readers develop their own descriptive writing style, and she also teaches how to weave writing together using description as a unifying thread.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rebecca McClanahan is an accomplished writer, poet and teacher. She has published three collections of poetry, including The Intersection of X and Y, and her work has been anthologized in Pushcart Prize XVIII.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books (August 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582970254
• ISBN-13: 978-1582970257
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

118 of 122 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Writer as Painter, April 7, 2004

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively (Paperback)

I'm so pleased with this book that it's tough to figure out where to start. The author talks about working description into our stories. She could have steered us in the direction of pages and pages of static description, yet she doesn't. She could have pushed us in the direction of tired and overused techniques (having the weather too obviously match up with what's going on in the story, for example), yet she didn't. Ms. McClanahan happily points out pitfalls, trite and overused techniques, and things to beware of at all stages. Her exercises back this up, helping us to subvert the expected. She also has a wonderful, quirky sense of humor, and uses her own advice on writing descriptively to turn what could have been a dry textbook into a beautiful and inspiring, fun-to-read book.

This book has no large margins. No space-gobbling quotes. No blank space for doing the (very helpful) exercises. No overly large font or ridiculous line-spacing. None of the traditional tricks for making writing books seem larger than they actually are. This book is every bit as thick with useful information as it looks.

The range of topics covered in this book in relation to description is phenomenal. I could spend pages listing out the topics covered (and how well they're dealt with!), such as metaphor, "bringing characters to life through description," point of view, setting, narrative, the senses, and on and on.

Whether you write fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, this book can make your writing sing. I have a better notion of where my weaknesses as a writer lie, and how I might turn them into strengths. And that's some of the highest praise I can give to a writing book! This is truly one of my favorite writing books, and it's well worth a writer's time and money to read it.

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Indispensable Writing Tool, April 19, 2005

By 

GoodwinsGal (Lombard, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively (Paperback)

Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan is, without a doubt, one of the best writing related books I have ever purchased. Oh, other reference books have come and gone -- mostly to an auction site or a used bookstore -- but Word Painting is one that stays on my shelf and won't be going anywhere.

Is it a book heavy on technical information? Absolutely. At times it reads like a textbook for a writing class, so that might surprise some. But the more I read this book (and I go back to re-read it regularly) the more I learn. To say that Word Painting is merely a book that teaches you how to write more descriptively would be an injustice to the material contained inside.

Word Painting tackles all the standard writing "must knows" like tenses and points of view, moves on to the art of creating your own, unique similes and metaphors (avoiding the cliche), tackles passive vs. active & cluttered vs. uncluttered prose, then moves on to the biggies like setting, and how writing descriptively weaves into narration, description, and exposition to form the larger framework of your overall story...how writing descriptively affects your narrative voice.

McClanahan teaches you to look at the world, people and things around you with an "artist's" eye, noticing texture and sound and light, then guides you through translating what you see and hear and smell and touch onto the page in words so the reader can experience that with you.

Not only did this book teach me the importance of description and how it helps shape a story, it taught me the importance of all the various elements of fiction writing AND how to write them in a balance. Each chapter is full of useful information, but I'm not going to lie and say that it's not heavy reading. It is. But then writing is an art and a skill and it takes time, dedication, and the willingness to hone your skills into the craft. This is not light afternoon reading, and it's definitely a book you have to keep coming back to again and again because what you missed one time will click in the next, then something else the next. To me, that's an indispensable writing tool because it's not a one shot deal like so many other books that you buy, read once, then never read again. Word Painting -- like your writing -- is an evolving book that grows with you.

When people ask me for "how to write" book recommendations, Word Painting is first (and often only) book that comes to mind.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have recommended this book to all my conference students., July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively (Hardcover)

This book is a valuable tool for any writer, and I have been recommending it to all my students here at the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. Teachers, especially those who work with beginning creative writers in a community setting, will find the incredible exercises listed at the end of each chapter invaluable. I find myself asking, why didn't I think of that one? The examples she uses to illustrate her comments on using all five senses are drawn from the classics and from contemporary sources, all chosen for Virginia Woolf's "common reader." The language is very readable and approachable; and the charm and enthusiasm of the writer comes through. This is the best teaching tool I have bought in years.