There are books which claim to teach you how to write. This book is about the writing life: The business of writing. The day-to-day existence of a professional writer. The ways writers interact with other writers. The things writers do to help themselves out -- and the things they do to trip themselves up. Which is to say: This book is about what it's like to be a writer, right now. And what's it like to be a writer, right now? Well, it's fun. But it's also work. Coffee Shop shows the writing life as it is, from the perspective of novelist and writer John Scalzi, who in 15 years as a professional writer has written just about everything: critically acclaimed novels, best-selling humor books, nationally syndicated newspaper columns, magazine cover stories...and ad copy, corporate brochures and Web site headlines, too. His wide range of experience informs this collection of essays on writing and the writing life, taken from his popular personal Web site, The Whatever. Whether providing practical advice, discussing writing and writers or observing the state of the writing world, Scalzi lays it out in a sharp, no-nonsense way that assumes you want the lay of the land, without all the huggy-squeezy hand-holding. Notes on the writing life, unvarnished views of writers and books and (yes) even some practical advice: It's all here. Take this to the coffee shop instead of your laptop. You'll get more out of it -- and if you spill coffee on it, it'll be cheaper to replace. See? Practical.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
One of sf's most inventive rising stars, Scalzi is nonetheless a seasoned veteran in the writing game, having channeled his talents into everything from ad copy to best-selling humor books. His latest outing skims from five-years' worth of writing-related columns on his blog, "Whatever." More than 50 bite-sized chapters are sorted into four sardonically headed sections. Sardonic? Well, "Writing Advice; or, Avoiding Real Work" and "Science Fiction; or, Don't Skip This Chapter, You Damned Writing Snobs" are two of them. The former title covers tips for aspiring writers about the publishing business and the growing market for online material, while the latter skewers the persistent notion that sf is second-rate literature. The smorgasbord of other topics ranges from whining writers to amusing anecdotes about Scalzi's own literary influences. Whether advising how to handle rejection or debunking concerns over online book piracy, Scalzi writes with irresistible panache, making his insights into the writing business as entertaining as they are instructive. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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More About the Author
John Scalzi writes books, which, considering where you're reading this, makes perfect sense. He's best known for writing science fiction, for which he won the John W. Campbell Award (2006) and has been nominated for the Hugo Award for best novel (2006, 2008, 2009). He also writes non-fiction, on subjects ranging from personal finance to astronomy to film, and was the Creative Consultant for the Stargate: Universe television series. He enjoys pie, as should all right thinking people. You can get to his blog by typing the word "Whatever" into Google. No, seriously, try it.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What do we have here?
This book might look like advice to writers, but Scalzi isn't fooling anyone. It's better read as autobiography, as Scalzi on Scalzi. It's a book that's useful and interesting to anyone -- just as a book about a shipbuilder is interesting to more than just other shipbuilders.
One of the themes of the book is that a professional writer should make money in different ways, and the book itself provides a perfect example: it's collected from postings on Whatever, the author's blog, so there was no "extra" work in writing most of the book. The flip side of this is that Scalzi really does work for a living. I'm someone who has to have a cup of tea and a lie down after I've written a few paragraphs, so to me Scalzi is terrifyingly productive, averaging thousands of words a day, hundreds of thousands of words a year. Scalzi makes it very clear that a professional writer really is more than someone who takes their laptop to a coffee shop. The book gives a clear picture of the working life of a writer in the first five years of the twenty-first century.
More than just a book about writing, this is a book about being in the world. It's no surprise that being honest and cooperative with the people you work with, relentless in the face of rejection, and calm in the face of criticism, is less stressful and more effective than the alternative. What raises this book above the level of advice books about kindergarten is that it's a clear exposition of what works for one successful writer. A sample of one might not be statistically significant, but it's easy to understand. And Scalzi makes it abundantly clear that the specifics that work for him may not work for you.
If you just read books rather than write them, this book is an good introduction to the process of writing, editing and publishing. Scalzi writes about his own experience, so you shouldn't expect an analysis of the entire industry, but the anecdotes in the book will definitely make you a more informed and smarter reader.
The book is so grounded in the present that it can be infuriating. I'd love ebooks to be more popular than they are now, and sooner or later they will be, but Scalzi points out, perfectly accurately, that ebooks are irrelevant to most writers because at the moment they don't generate any income. Scalzi is also opinionated, which is just a polite way of saying that he says things that I disagree with, but it wouldn't be a very interesting book otherwise. He draws a clear distinction between writers who have published books and those who haven't, which in particular seems unfair to the technical writers I've met who are expert in turning technical gibberish into user manuals and other documentation.
Not much of "Scalzi on Writing" is specifically about how to write well, and anyway writers have different styles and even different goals. Some reviewers have commented on Scalzi's tone, which can occasionally be strident. Scalzi does high dudgeon as well as anyone, but in a book about writing, hasn't it occurred to anyone that Scalzi doesn't have to *be* angry in order to *write* angry? Andrew Wheeler, the editor of the Science Fiction Book Club, has suggested that Scalzi should start a writers' movement called "The New Comprehensible". Wheeler is making a joke at Scalzi's expense because Scalzi writes comprehensible prose and makes it look easy. If it's your goal to communicate clearly and effectively, the writing in this book is a pretty good model.
The book has gone out of print in the best way, by selling out its first printing. If you don't own the book, you might send a thought heavenwards (or in whatever direction you think appropriate for publishers) in the hope that the book will be reprinted.
This book might look like advice to writers, but Scalzi isn't fooling anyone. It's better read as autobiography, as Scalzi on Scalzi. It's a book that's useful and interesting to anyone -- just as a book about a shipbuilder is interesting to more than just other shipbuilders.
One of the themes of the book is that a professional writer should make money in different ways, and the book itself provides a perfect example: it's collected from postings on Whatever, the author's blog, so there was no "extra" work in writing most of the book. The flip side of this is that Scalzi really does work for a living. I'm someone who has to have a cup of tea and a lie down after I've written a few paragraphs, so to me Scalzi is terrifyingly productive, averaging thousands of words a day, hundreds of thousands of words a year. Scalzi makes it very clear that a professional writer really is more than someone who takes their laptop to a coffee shop. The book gives a clear picture of the working life of a writer in the first five years of the twenty-first century.
More than just a book about writing, this is a book about being in the world. It's no surprise that being honest and cooperative with the people you work with, relentless in the face of rejection, and calm in the face of criticism, is less stressful and more effective than the alternative. What raises this book above the level of advice books about kindergarten is that it's a clear exposition of what works for one successful writer. A sample of one might not be statistically significant, but it's easy to understand. And Scalzi makes it abundantly clear that the specifics that work for him may not work for you.
If you just read books rather than write them, this book is an good introduction to the process of writing, editing and publishing. Scalzi writes about his own experience, so you shouldn't expect an analysis of the entire industry, but the anecdotes in the book will definitely make you a more informed and smarter reader.
The book is so grounded in the present that it can be infuriating. I'd love ebooks to be more popular than they are now, and sooner or later they will be, but Scalzi points out, perfectly accurately, that ebooks are irrelevant to most writers because at the moment they don't generate any income. Scalzi is also opinionated, which is just a polite way of saying that he says things that I disagree with, but it wouldn't be a very interesting book otherwise. He draws a clear distinction between writers who have published books and those who haven't, which in particular seems unfair to the technical writers I've met who are expert in turning technical gibberish into user manuals and other documentation.
Not much of "Scalzi on Writing" is specifically about how to write well, and anyway writers have different styles and even different goals. Some reviewers have commented on Scalzi's tone, which can occasionally be strident. Scalzi does high dudgeon as well as anyone, but in a book about writing, hasn't it occurred to anyone that Scalzi doesn't have to *be* angry in order to *write* angry? Andrew Wheeler, the editor of the Science Fiction Book Club, has suggested that Scalzi should start a writers' movement called "The New Comprehensible". Wheeler is making a joke at Scalzi's expense because Scalzi writes comprehensible prose and makes it look easy. If it's your goal to communicate clearly and effectively, the writing in this book is a pretty good model.
The book has gone out of print in the best way, by selling out its first printing. If you don't own the book, you might send a thought heavenwards (or in whatever direction you think appropriate for publishers) in the hope that the book will be reprinted.
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is not a book of advice on how to write; rather it's a very personable look at the business of writing. The articles this book is composed of were taken from Scalzi's Whatever blog, spanning the years 2001-2006, and as such form an extended snapshot of his writing life and its progression through new forms of writing.
First a disclaimer: I'm one of those who reads Scalzi's blog on a near daily basis, and have been since mid-2006, as I find it to be both entertaining and informative on a much wider range of topics than just the writing business. Because of this, I had read a few of the articles of this book previously, and had a pretty good idea of most of the salient points that he raises within these pages. Which makes the accomplishments of this book even more impressive, as even with this prior knowledge I found myself very much absorbed, entertained, and informed by this material. Scalzi has a very easy, relaxed, and comprehensible style of writing, frequently leavened by touches of humor, that makes for very quick and easy reading, while still maintaining a very high level of information content.
The content here is good material for any aspiring or currently published writer, as Scalzi covers everything from why you really, really shouldn't tick off your editor to just how much money you can reasonably expect to make from various forms of writing. Writing to satisfy your inner muse versus managing your writing as a business, the benefits of publishing some material on-line, the real risk of piracy, what not to do in a cover letter, writing discipline (impressing the girls at the coffee shop with your laptop is not getting your novel written), contract and business writing, 'ghost' writing and the basic unfairness of the world where some people just seem to fall into riches without effort and what you, as a writer, should think and do about it, how to handle criticism and rejection letters, even the relative merits of 'genre' fiction versus that 'literary' stuff are all covered, often with some very sharp opinions.
Will this book turn you into a best-selling author? Nope. But it probably will give you a better perspective on just how to better manage your life as a writer, and that's no small thing.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
First a disclaimer: I'm one of those who reads Scalzi's blog on a near daily basis, and have been since mid-2006, as I find it to be both entertaining and informative on a much wider range of topics than just the writing business. Because of this, I had read a few of the articles of this book previously, and had a pretty good idea of most of the salient points that he raises within these pages. Which makes the accomplishments of this book even more impressive, as even with this prior knowledge I found myself very much absorbed, entertained, and informed by this material. Scalzi has a very easy, relaxed, and comprehensible style of writing, frequently leavened by touches of humor, that makes for very quick and easy reading, while still maintaining a very high level of information content.
The content here is good material for any aspiring or currently published writer, as Scalzi covers everything from why you really, really shouldn't tick off your editor to just how much money you can reasonably expect to make from various forms of writing. Writing to satisfy your inner muse versus managing your writing as a business, the benefits of publishing some material on-line, the real risk of piracy, what not to do in a cover letter, writing discipline (impressing the girls at the coffee shop with your laptop is not getting your novel written), contract and business writing, 'ghost' writing and the basic unfairness of the world where some people just seem to fall into riches without effort and what you, as a writer, should think and do about it, how to handle criticism and rejection letters, even the relative merits of 'genre' fiction versus that 'literary' stuff are all covered, often with some very sharp opinions.
Will this book turn you into a best-selling author? Nope. But it probably will give you a better perspective on just how to better manage your life as a writer, and that's no small thing.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By CV Rick
Format:Hardcover
You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop won't teach you anything about how to write great stories, articles, and books other than the most important thing - you have to write to be a writer. Over the years he's compiled blog posts and articles into this volume and it's quintessential Scalzi, blunt and dogmatic.
I'm taking my volume and mailing it to a friend who's decided to become a writer because better than I can ever do, Scalzi debunks the mythology and rose-colored dreams of the relaxed writer sitting at coffee shops and waxing poetic on the soul and the purity of art. Writing is a business and if you don't approach it as a business, you're going to be a hungry writer.
The most valuable lesson in the book is about selling your writing. If you want to be a paid writer, you have to write what people (editors) will buy. That lesson applies to articles and novels alike. It's great to write what's in your heart and it's great to be true to your vision of art, but if you want to receive royalty checks perhaps you should look at what's selling and also do whatever adjustments and rewrites your editor suggests. Good advice.
Another eye-opening recommendation he gives is not to quit your day job. Further he explains that rather than quitting your job look at it as freedom to write without the constraints of having to pay your bills from your writing output. This is a great way to view it. Give yourself some time to learn the trade, figure out the markets, and explore your talents.
If I have one knock it's more with the format than the content. Because it's an assemblage of posts, there's a lot of repetition. The upside to that is that you can open the book to any page and instantly get good advice and interesting insights. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to write professionally.
- CV Rick, May 2008
I'm taking my volume and mailing it to a friend who's decided to become a writer because better than I can ever do, Scalzi debunks the mythology and rose-colored dreams of the relaxed writer sitting at coffee shops and waxing poetic on the soul and the purity of art. Writing is a business and if you don't approach it as a business, you're going to be a hungry writer.
The most valuable lesson in the book is about selling your writing. If you want to be a paid writer, you have to write what people (editors) will buy. That lesson applies to articles and novels alike. It's great to write what's in your heart and it's great to be true to your vision of art, but if you want to receive royalty checks perhaps you should look at what's selling and also do whatever adjustments and rewrites your editor suggests. Good advice.
Another eye-opening recommendation he gives is not to quit your day job. Further he explains that rather than quitting your job look at it as freedom to write without the constraints of having to pay your bills from your writing output. This is a great way to view it. Give yourself some time to learn the trade, figure out the markets, and explore your talents.
If I have one knock it's more with the format than the content. Because it's an assemblage of posts, there's a lot of repetition. The upside to that is that you can open the book to any page and instantly get good advice and interesting insights. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to write professionally.
- CV Rick, May 2008
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
funny as always
john scalzi has an entertaining writing style and i love how brutally honest he is about his thoughts on a subject.
Published 9 days ago by ollie oxenfree
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading
As an aspiring writer, I have to say that I was astounded at my lack of knowledge about what it is to actually be one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Moises Weintraub Hochstein
5.0 out of 5 stars
Open and honest book about the writing profession
i enjoyed John's book for the wealth of knowledge and the practical advice about the writing profession. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Micheal E Hannah
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read for Writers
This book is funny and to the point. Entertaining and useful. It is a great read for writers of all stripes.
Published 2 months ago by Stephen J. Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for professional writers
There are some valuable lessons in here, and the booking approaches the job of writing as just that - a JOB. Read more
Published 4 months ago by N. J. Steere
4.0 out of 5 stars
You Can Learn a Lot from Scalzi.
John Scalzi has been a journalist, a paid blogger, an unpaid blogger, an author, and an editor; and he has written corporate pieces and newspaper and magazine columns, as well as... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Eric Christensen
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable even if you aren't a writer
This is a book on writing, mostly the business of writing, as opposed to the act or art of writing (though there's some of that, too). Read more
Published 11 months ago by Anna N.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scalzi at his witty and, may I say, most arrogant best...
If you want to be a writer, or an academic (publish or perish), read this offering from Scalzi before giving up your day job in the supermarket, the factory floor, or the CIA. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Dr Bret
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nice title, not much content
Not what I was hoping to find. I'm not a writer, but I was interested in how to keep going continuously in a creative profession. Not covered. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Akira R1100
5.0 out of 5 stars
An honest look at writing
This is a great book for aspiring writers. Another of the reviewers stated that the advice was obvious and if you weren't stupid you'd already know it, I flatly disagree. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Wendy Hemken
