Making a Literary Life
by Carolyn See
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Book Summary Information
Author: Carolyn SeeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-08-26
ISBN: 0345440463
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Making a Literary Life
Book Review: A narrative instructor
Summary: 4 Stars
I wasn't disappointed, after reading this book with much anticipation. She made me giggle and laugh every other page, though I had a hard time with some four letter words, which she employs so offhandedly and deliberately. I also had a hard time with the exposure of her private life, but, okay, this is what she wants to do and I took part in it, unwillingly, more or less, but others may like this personal and intimate way of writing. Now, about the book stuff itself. The wealth of info about the publishing world, is amazing! But, at the same time, it is discouraging, to say the least and nauseating, to say the most. This is so, not because of HOW the author is writing, but because of WHAT. She is describing a world in which I/we, the prospecting authors, have to do things, in order to get published, that are not in my/our way of behaving. At least, this is what I think many of us, like me, will feel, when reading this book, which is a very recommended thing to do. Be prepared! Know thy enemy! This is the message. Thank you Carolyn, but if I may give my two cents, then I say that I want to write, I do not want to spend a moment on writing "charming notes" to anonymous people who don't care a bit about me and the examples the author gives, are aplenty! I do not want to beg, not for grants and not for being published, but, apparently, this is what I am required to do, in order to survive in this hostile environment. I may APPLY for them, but NOT begging! What I mean to say is that the whole Book Industry is eating bread out of MY hand, the writer, and not vice versa!! If begging at all, which I do not endorse in the least, it is they who have to do it, not me! They have to come and say "Dear writer, please, be kind and write a book, so I can put bread on the table for dinner!" I know, this sounds a bit, maybe more than a bit, farfetched and misplaced, and maybe, even, naive, but it is so very true, so correct! I will write my first charming note to the author of this book, and I will do it because I have a kind of relationship with her, a relationship between reader and writer. I can claim that I know her in a way, so I feel justified and in the measure of good behaviour to do so. Bottom line, all in all, buy it, but be prepared for many hard and unpleasant, discouraging facts, if you are a novice in the field. I want to thank the author for exposing the bleak world which I am about to embark on, if I do not self-publish, which, once, wasn't even an option, but, now, after I read her book, I am contemplating it quite willingly.
Summary of Making a Literary Life
As Carolyn See says, writing guides are like preachers on Sunday?there may be a lot of them, but you can?t have too many, and there?s always an audience of the faithful. And while Making a Literary Life is ostensibly a book that teaches you how to write, it really teaches you how to make your interior life into your exterior life, how to find and join that community of like-minded souls you?re sure is out there somewhere.Carolyn See distills a lifetime of experience as novelist, memoirist, critic, and creative-writing professor into this marvelously engaging how-to book. Partly the nuts and bolts of writing (plot, point of view, character, voice) and partly an inspirational guide to living the life you dream of, Making a Literary Life takes you from the decision to ?become? a writer to three months after the publication of your first book. A combination of writing and life strategies (do not tell everyone around you how you yearn to be a writer; send a ?charming note? to someone you admire in the industry five days a week, every week, for the rest of your life; find the perfect characters right in front of you), Making a Literary Life is for people not usually considered part of the literary loop: the non?East Coasters, the secret scribblers.
With sagacity, a magical sense of humor, and an abiding belief in the possibilities offered to ?ordinary? people living ?ordinary? lives, Carolyn See has summed up her life?s work in a book so beguiling, irreverent, and giddily inspiring that you won?t even realize it?s changing your life until it already has.
From the Hardcover edition.
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