Being a Writer: Advice, Musings, Essays and Experiences From the World's Greatest Authors Hardcover – 7 Sept. 2017

I bought this book for my Auntie as she has joined local creative writing classes. I have given her for her birthday. Recently I asked about this book and how her creative writing classes going. She is happy to continue once weekly evening class but d=said that this book was not very helpful

On surface - the format might look like a child's play. Too much space, arty, short, brief, long, cheatingly tedious, medium and diverse anecdotes. You might even think it is a rip off, chaotic- but, hey, thus is life. You never know whether your day has mist, fog, moon, wind or sun around trees, alleys and corners. This is a masterpiece, folks. Money's worth. Excellent book. If you are a serious writer (or wanna be one), you will recognise everything here. Old and new authors; past, contemporary, classic, unknown and famous. Not just from Europe, but Africa and Asia too; as someone aptly wrote in one of the Amazon reviews,. To finish. I never knew this amazing book existed. I was researching for something else. Google popped Helen Gordon's name up and...alas! Here she was ; the gold: for sale. Thanks Amazon for being so productive. Fast delivery. Efficient as usual. Keep up the jolly work.

This is a highly attractive and readable collection. Being a reader brings pleasure; so too will "Being a Writer": the reflections of over 150 popular authors.This well-organised collection takes us through the whole experience of writing - including failure, and how some cope with "writer's block".As well as being very readable - obviously the reflections are all well-written ! - this is a very handsomely-designed book with bright and witty illustrations. I really enjoyed reading what writers think and go through ; highly recommended.

Got this for my mother as a gift and she has retired and is now beinning to write a book. This book is very nice quality and she enjoyed reading it. Would recommend as a gift.

I bought this book as a Christmas present for a friend who is a budding author. She messaged me on Christmas day to say 'You cannot begin to imagine how amazing the book you bought me is!'. High praise indeed from a very discerning lady! I had a look through before I wrapped it up and it is so beautifully presented with thick hardback covers and a very high quality of layout. Very appealing indeed and perfect to dip into for inspiration.

lovely hard cover book, and lots of pages to read. very impressed

Beautiful book with inspiring content

ONE SENTENCE SUMMARYBeing A Writer is a collection of information and diverse opinions by essayists, fiction writers, and non-fiction writers of different kinds on the subject of writing.WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?Writers of all kinds and different stages of development.WHAT I LOVE ABOUT ITThe diversity of the collections is impressive. Short story writers rarely feature in a collection like this, but this book has many. Also, this book goes beyond the normal old, dead, white European writers to contemporary African and Asian writers perspectives on the craft - there are many voices to hear from here.MEMORABLE PASSAGE "The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. I suppose that it begins or does not begin in the cradle. Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she is a singularly blessed and accepting child, delighted with life exactly as life presents itself to her, unafraid to go to sleep and unafraid to wake up. Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely and resistant rearrangers of things, anxious malcontents, children afflicted apparently at birth with some presentiment of loss." Joan Didion "One night a friend lent me a book of short stories by Franz Kafka. I went back to the pension where I was staying and began to read ‘The Metamorphosis’. The first line almost knocked me off the bed. I was so surprised. The first line reads, ‘As Gregor Samsa awoke that morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect . . .’ When I read the line I thought to myself that I didn’t know anyone was allowed to write things like that. If I had known, I would have started writing a long time ago. So I immediately started writing short stories." Gabriel García Márquez.......Being A Writer: Advice, Musings, Essays, and Experiences From The World's Greatest Authors by Trace Elborough and Helen Gordon is available to buy from on all major online bookstores.Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group for review copy.