Writing Your Way: Creating a Writing Process That Works for You [Paperback]

Don Fry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2012

Writers write the way they were taught, which may not suit them at all, making their writing slow, painful, and not what they want to say. Writing Your Way shows you how to create your own unique writing process that magnifies your strengths and avoids your weaknesses. It shows you a multitude of ways to do the five key stages: Idea, Gather, Organize, Draft, and Revise. You can then design your own collection of techniques that work for you. You'll write clearer, faster, and more powerfully, with less effort and suffering.

The second half of this book shows you how to create and modify your own voice, one that sounds like the real you, that sounds the way you want agents and publishers and readers to experience you.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Don Fry has helped over 10,000 writers worldwide to write better and faster, with less agony. Don first taught Beowulf and Chaucer at the University of Virginia and at Stony Brook University. Later, he headed the writing faculty at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. As an independent writing coach, Don improves the writing and editing at newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and non-profit organizations. He has coached over a thousand authors, helping them create writing processes that work for them. Don has published hundreds of articles and 17 books. His blog appears at www.donfry.wordpress.com, and he posts a daily writing tip on Twitter at @donaldkfry. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 13, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599634104
• ISBN-13: 978-1599634104
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice from an experienced helper March 20, 2012

By Roy Peter Clark

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have worked with Don Fry since 1970, so this review carries the bias of familiarity and friendship. But it also benefits, I'll argue, from being written by someone whose writing has improved under Don's gentle but direct attention. It began in graduate school, when Don sat next to me and went through my dissertation page by page, converting my inflated academic writing into workable prose. It is now a comfort to have Don Fry's practical wisdom between the covers of this useful book. I especially appreciate the idea embedded in the title, that the writing process can't be something that is imposed upon you. It is something that must be learned and adapted and re-learned over time. Don Fry may be the most well-traveled writing coach in history. His methods have been tested and proven strong. This book makes his help available to all. It's about time, or shall I say, Halleluia!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Tool Kit for Writers March 19, 2012

By Jack Hart

Format:Paperback

Don Fry has long been one of the country's foremost writing coaches. Over the years, working with writers all over the English-speaking world, he's amassed a tremendous collection of writing tools, tricks of the trade that professionals use to grease their creative skids. Now he's collected those in a single volume. Because they come from so many successful writers, they offer a broad array of techniques suited to just about any kind of writer. Pick and choose. Mix and match. You're certain to find something that suits your particular approach to writing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gems of Wisdom April 27, 2012

By Lisa

Format:Paperback

I've been a published novelist for over a dozen years, and have written more than 20 novels and novellas; you'd think I knew my business. Don Fry's book, however, has taught me ways to make my writing process easier and faster. Every other page I find a tip that makes me think, "Ooo, I need to try that!" Don Fry knows the minds of writers, and all the self-sabotaging things we do to ourselves; and what's more, in this book he guides us on how to capitalize on our strengths and avoid or compensate for our weaknesses. I especially appreciated the section on creating voice, as it's the type of advanced writing issue that sounds vague and abstract, and so isn't often addressed in a concrete manner where you can actually learn something.