Customer Reviews

Writers on Writing

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It puzzles me beyond belief that "Writers on Writing" is out of print. This book is a grand, well-chosen collection of quotes on such apects of writing--from getting published, to starting out, to writer's block. Jon Winokur is a quote-collecting master. When I first became serious about writing, I found this book at my local library, and found it hard to put down, and extremely helpful and insightful. I was being taught by the likes of such literary greats as Truman Capote, Lewis Carroll, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. This is an educational journey all the way through, using down to earth quotes from those who know, rather than a drawn out step-by-step instructional book. It cured my writer's block, and improved my amateur work. Required reading for aspiring writers.

I could cry that this book is out of print. I pored over its pages when I was first writing fiction. I highlighted stuff. It kept me going. I still refer to it. We can hear the voices of writers in it, dead and alive.

Like this:

"A work of art has no importance whatever to society. It is only important to the individual." --Vladimir Nabokov

"We have art in order not to die of the truth."--Friedrich Nietzsche

"Poets have to dream, and dreaming in America is no cinch."--Saul Bellow

"There is no way of being a creative writer in America without being a loser."--Nelson Algren

"Writers don't have lifestyles. They sit in little rooms and write."--Norman Mailer

"I never wanted to grow up to be a writer; I just wanted to grow up to be an adult."--Toni Morrrison

Out of the hundreds of books in my personal library, this is one of my favorite quote texts. It is a huge tome of 372 pages of wit and profound quotations by writers about writing. It covers an enormous amount of material. It has valuable advice to young writers, as well as quotes from all aspects of the writer's life. This is a book about the trials and tribulations of being a writer. Every serious writer knows the emotional roller coaster ride involved in their vocation. The well-known writers in this volume sometimes contradict each other, but it does not matter. This is a book for anyone who is a writer or who aspires to become a writer.

Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Haiku Moments: How to read, write and enjoy Haiku).

This is a wonderful treasure for people who like quotations;and even more so if you like quotations abour books,writers,critics and readers.
This book is the result of a personal collection of quotations by the author from the time he was only 17 and had his first notion of becoming a writer.
Being a rather small book of 5 1/2" X 6 1/4 " ;it might appear to be insignificient sitting on the bookshelf;but don't let that fool you.It is 372 pages with many hundreds of quotations by over 500 different writers. While some are from outside America,most are from the US.The breadth and variety of people and topics is exceeding great for a book of this type. The quotations are presented under 50 different subjects .Just to show the subjects covered;let me list a few; Best-Sellers,Censorship,Colleagues,Critics,Editors,Fiction,Money,Output,Fame,
Publicity,Posterity,Techniques,Work Habits,Readers and Reading,Publishers,Success and on and on.
Then at the back of the book we are given two indexes;one by Writers and another, Alphabetically.
You are sure to find quotes from most of your favorite writers and also many you may not be as familiar with;but you are going to be astounded with the quotes Winokur has assembled for your enjoyment.
This book was first written in 1986 and reprinted a few times,and when you see how comprehensive it is,it's little wonder it is still available.If there is any shortcoming,it has to be that there are no quotations from some of the more "recent writers" such as McMurtry ,King and so on;so maybe we will see a new updated edition edition one of these days.Here are a couple of quotes you'll find here;

"There are no dull subjects.There are only dull writers." H.L.Mencken

"Write without pay until someone offers to pay;if nobody offers within
three years,sawing wood is what you were intended for." Mark Twain

"I'm a commercial writer,not an "author". Margaret Mitchell was an
author.She wrote one book." Mickey Spillane

"I have never been a title man.I don't give a damn what it is called."
John Steinbeck

"I think you must remember that a writer is a simple-minded person
to begin with and go on that basis.He's not a great mind,he's not a
great thinker,he's not a great philosopher,he's a storyteller."
Erskine Caldwell

"A writer has nothing to say after forty;if he is clever he knows how
to hide it." Georges Simenon

"His style is chaos,illuminated by flashes of lightning. As a writer he
has mastered everything but language;as a novelist he can do
everything but tell a story;as an artist,he is everything,except
articulate. Oscar Wilde on George Meredith

"He festooned the dung heap on which he had placed himself with
sonnets as people grow honeysuckle around outdoor privies." Quentin
Crisp on Oscar Wilde