Creative Writing For People Who Can't Not Write by Kathryn Lindskoog

 

This is on the back book cover:

"Crammed with crucial facts, ideas, and warnings never before brought together into clear focus, this guide is not only fun to read, but also work-boots practical. Not only inspiring, but pinch-penny accurate. Not only optimistic, but report-card candid. Not only kindly, but tattle-tale frank. It is an energizing tonic for writers' weary brain cells. Every writer is important. Creative Writing for People Who Can't Not Write is a book for every writer. Topics in this lively blend of advice, inspiration, and scholarly wit include: - the wonder of creativity - getting published, paid, and read - why writing should be impossible - how to avoid looking foolish in print - a sugar-coated history of the whimsical, word-rich English language - the nature of poetry - the sixteen writer-type temperaments - reflections from contemporary writers on their work - a first-ever collation of pages of advice from C.S. Lewis. Lewis once wrote to Lindskoog, "If you understand me so well, you will understand other authors, too." Writers who read Creative Writing for People Who Can't Not Write will agree with Lewis' assessment of Kathryn Lindskoog's insight into the writing life. And this book also passes Lindskoog's own test: "A good writer is a graceful guest in a reader's brain." "

I picked up this book at a sale and thought it sounded interesting.  The cover has The Thinker holding a book. 

"The Thinker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Le Penseur in the garden of the Rodin Museum, PhiladelphiaThe Thinker (French: Le Penseur) is a bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin, usually placed on a stone pedestal. The work shows a nude male figure of over life-size sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though deep in thought, and is often used as an image to represent philosophy. There are about 28 full size castings, in which the figure is about 186 centimetres (73 in) high, though not all were made during Rodin's lifetime and under his supervision, as well as various other versions, several in plaster, studies, and posthumous castings, in a range of sizes. Rodin first conceived the figure as part of another work in 1880, but the first of the familiar monumental bronze castings did not appear until 1904."

 

A very good read not only for those who want to write but for those already an author.

 

I especially liked the chapters English, The Marvelous Mess and Writer Types.

 

The author met C. S. Lewis and was very impressed with him.

 

I read every word and learned so much about people and their writings.

 

The book was dedicated to Walter Zadrozny and Ranelda Hunsicker,  First My Students, Then My Friends and Teachers.

 

I will give this a 5 star rating.

 

Contents:

Epigraph; Written to That End

Introduction

Acknowledgements

 

Chapter 1:THE WONDER OF CREATIVITY

 An original collection of data and insights about the human mind and how we create.

 

Chapter 2: TO COMMUNICATE OR OBFUSCATE

 Why writing should be impossible. The basic essentials of good writing, and the costs and compromise   involved.

 

Chapter 3: PITFALLS AND PRATFALLS

 Ways to avoid looking foolish: sidestepping booby traps from misspellings  to overwriting.

 

Chapter 4: EYE, EAR, NOSE AND THROAT SPECIALISTS

 How to show, not tell, and the power of wet prose. Color, texture, sound, smell, taste and weight in words at work and words at play.

 

Chapter 5: ENGLISH, THE MARVELOUS MESS

 A quick look at the languages of the world, and a sugar-coated history of English- the strangest of them all.

 

Chapter 6: A FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH

 Writing poems, puzzles, and preachments that please the ear, tease the brain, and ease the heart.

 

Chapter 7: A FOOT IN TH DOOR

 Ideas about writing; ideas about getting published, paid and read; and ideas about getting more ideas.

 

Chapter 8: WRITER TYPES (HOW TO TYPE YOURSELF)

 An introduction to the sixteen temperament types; how we perceive life and make choices.

 

Chapter 9: AUTHORS IN ACTION

 Reflections from real writers, each one making a key point about the writing life.

 

Chapter 10: C. S. LEWIS'S FREE ADVICE TO HOPEFUL WRITERS

 A collection of pithy advice to writers from Lewis's personal correspondence with friends and strangers.

 

Appendix: Pure Poppycock

Bibliography

Index

 

 

The author passed away in 2003.

 

 

Leona Olson

http://www.mnleona.blogspot.com