RESOURCES: The Writer's Workbook

#review #amwriting #creativewriting

The Writer's Workbook is a slim volume packed with learned ideas and exercises for the modern writer. It's edited by Jenny Newman, Edmund Cusick and Aileen La Tourette, all part of the faculty of Liverpool John Moores University, in the Centre for Writing, and the entire book has a feel of a university course about it. The advice given in the 184 pages is good, but a tad dry if you're looking for a cosy read. Some books have the 'popular' style of writing that tends to welcome the reader in, but this is more of a cerebral read.

Not that there is anything wrong with that – if you're looking to get serious about your writing, then this is for you, and the preface advises that you work through the book in chapter order to get the best out of it, so you could easily use this as a workbook to learn from, giving yourself a chapter a week to read and experiment with. Chapters cover topics such as Working With Myth, Writing Poetry, Writing a Novel, Redrafting and Editing and are interspersed with tasks to complete, such as trying freewriting, experimenting with narrative voice, developing characters and dissecting your favourite tales. Each chapter is written by different members of the faculty, so the style differs from page to page, but each is accessible in its own way.

The tasks set are worth trying, but don't feel defeated if they don't work for you – I abandoned several halfway through. The book is full of sage advice but it may take a bit of digging to get to the root of the message.

RESOURCES is a series of blog posts reviewing the glut of creative writing books available to aspiring writers, searching out the gems so you don't have to. Have you read this book? Leave your comments below.

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