Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ursula K. Le Guin's extraordinary writing primer is full of charm, wit, and opinion. Le Guin likens writing to "steering a craft," and as one reads through this volume, one has the sense of floating down a river, with the waves of Le Guin's words lapping at one's craft. Le Guin veers sharply from the mainstream of contemporary writing manuals by challenging their very definition of story. While it is common to "conflate story with conflict," Le Guin writes, she finds that limiting. "Story is change," she says. While that change may be the result of conflict, it is just as likely to evolve from "relating, finding, losing, bearing, discovering, [or] parting." Le Guin demonstrates this complexity with well-hewn excerpts from the works of such writers as Jane Austen, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charlotte Brontë, and especially Virginia Woolf. The many aspects of fine fiction writing Le Guin addresses here include the role of the narrative sentence (its "chief duty [is] to lead to the next sentence--to keep the story going"); avoiding exposition doldrums ("break up the information, grind it fine, and make it into bricks to build the story with"); and the concept of "crowding and leaping." While prose should be "crowded with sensations, meanings, and implications," don't forget that "what you leave out is infinitely more than what you leave in."

Accompanying Le Guin's text is a handful of clever writing exercises, each as enticing as its name. Among them are "I am García Márquez," which requires writing with no punctuation; "Chastity," which challenges one to write without adjectives or adverbs; and "A Terrible Thing to Do," which proposes taking an earlier exercise and cutting it--by half. --Jane Steinberg

From Library Journal

Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness, Walker, 1994), the author of more than 30 novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, and essays, demonstrates here why she is a master of her craft. The title refers to a workshop she gave at the Flight of the Mind in 1966; collected here are the discussion topics and exercises for self-guided study. Although she focuses on the technical aspects of writing, Le Guin's skill pushes this beyond a handbook or style manual. Through "opinion pieces" about specific concerns, through her eclectic selections of writing to illustrate various techniques and the progression of exercises crafted to give experience to the novice and to flex the muscles of more seasoned writers, Le Guin's style is warm and encouraging, yet her standards of what turns writing into art are clearly defined and never compromised. A separate section covers collaborative workshops and "peer review" groups, offering sound suggestions for making the time spent both productive and challenging. Highly recommended.?Denise S. Sticha, Seton Hill Coll. Lib., Greensburg, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: The Eighth Mountain Press; 1st edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0933377460
• ISBN-13: 978-0933377462
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,963 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help from a master, April 18, 2001

By	Peter Hentges (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Long a favorite writer of mine, I was delighted to see Le Guin's offering on story writing. Her love of language comes through in these excercises as it does in her prose and poetry. Not a guide for crafting plot or character, the excercises focus on honing your experience with the words that are the bones of your writing.

While a delightful read, the true value of the book comes in working through the excercises either alone or as part of a writer's group. You'll stretch your skills as a writer as you explore the uncharted waters. Ms. Le Guin will strain your creative muscles by leading you into breaking the "rules" you were taught. Whether it is writing a page of narrative with no punctuation, a paragraph with at least three repetitions of the same noun, verb, or adjective, or carefully crafting a sentence at least as long as this one, the excercises get you thinking about why you write the way you do and provide the tools necessary to accomplish what you want with your prose.

Full of good advice, good examples, and good descrptions of how a writer does what they do, this book is a boon to every beginning writer and likely of use to even seasoned professionals.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Journey Well Worth Taking, December 5, 2002

By	A. Wolverton (Crofton, MD United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Very, very few writers these days will share their knowledge of how to <really> become better writers. Many will write books on how to sell what you've written or how to write novels that will fly off the shelves, but few provide any real, practical information on how to hone the craft of writing. Let such things not be said about Ursula K. Le Guin.

Le Guin says that while the "gift" can't be earned, the craft of writing can. All artists practice and work at their craft: musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers....even writers. The craft can be developed and Le Guin shows us how.

You won't find any pie-in-the-sky philosophies about writing in this book, just practical information which, if followed, will make you a better writer. Le Guin's chapters include:

The Sound of Your Writing
Sentence Length and Complex Syntax
Repetition
Adjective and Adverb
Point of View and Voice
Changing Point of View
and much more.

Each chapter contains writing exercises specific to the chapter topic. (Le Guin also suggests many titles for further reading.) This book will become a gold mine to any writer of fiction or creative non-fiction. It's the perfect book to use for a writers' group or peer group. Thank you, Ms. Le Guin, for sharing your gift with us.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Steering the craft will float your boat!, February 22, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

I don't write fiction (yet) but reading this book actually changed how I read literature.

Le Guin is a prize-winning author of science fiction novels. She runs writers workshops and this is a book of exercises such as you would encounter in one of her work groups.

But the amazing thing about this book is that even if you don't write a single word or do a single exercise, it will change how you view the books you read. Her chapters on rhythm in writing (using Virginia Woolf as an example) changed how I read any novel. Now I look for the music in the words as well as the style and structure of the book.

Another chapter is on "being gorgeous" or using the flow of adjectives. She gives another exercise in being abstemious with the use of adverbs. At the end of the book are ideas for starting writers' groups and workshops of your own.

I list this book as a must for English teachers and for anyone who loves literature.