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A review by aprilmei
Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande
3.0
A nice little guide on "becoming" a writer, as it talks about the ideas of talent, creativity, how to open to a mindset and a practice of writing, and freeing yourself to write and be a writer. It wasn't life changing and I found the language cadence a little awkward (maybe due to an older style of language from the 1930's), as I found myself re-reading sentences to get the the meaning in full. Overall, an encouraging voice for aspiring writers.
"When you have succeeded in establishing these two habits--early morning writing and writing by agreement with yourself--you have come a long way on the writer's path. You have gained, on the one hand, fluency, and on the other control, even though in an elementary way. You know a great deal more about yourself, in all likelihood, than you did when you embarked on the exercises." pg. 81
"A kind of musing introspection or of speculation only sketched in is found in the essay writer's notebook, although with a grain of drama added and with the particularizing of an abstract speculation by assigning the various elements of the problem to characters who act out the idea, there is promise of the more meditative type of novelist." pg. 85
"Next set yourself to discover if you can see any connection between a good morning's work and the conditions of the evening before. Can you tell whether or not the good writing came after you had spent an active day, or after a quiet one? Did you write more easily after going to bed early, or after a short sleep? Is there any observable connection between seeing certain friends and the vividness or dullness of the next morning's work? How did you write on the morning after you had been to a theater, or to an exhibition of pictures, or to a dance? Notice such things, and try to arrange for the type of activity which results in good work." pg. 95
"It is well to understand as early as possible in one's writing life that there is just one contribution which every one of us can make: we can give into the common pool of experience some comprehension of the world as it looks to each of us. There is one sense in which everyone is unique. No one else was born of your parents, at just that time of just that country's history; no one underwent just your experiences, reached just your conclusions, or faces the world with the exact set of ideas that you must have. If you can come to such friendly terms with yourself that you are able and willing to say precisely what you think of any given situation or character, if you can tell a story as it can appear only to you of all the people on earth, you will inevitably have a piece of work which is original." pg 121
"Since this is so, it behooves you to know what you do believe of most of the major problems of life, and of those minor problems which you are going to use in your writing." pg.129
Her questionnaire:
"Do you believe in a God? Under what aspect? (Hardy's 'President of the Immortals,' Wells' 'emerging God'?)
Do you believe in free will or are you a determinist? (Although an artist-determinist is such a walking paradox that imagination staggers at the notion.)
Do you like men? Women? Children?
What do you think of marriage?
Do you consider romantic love a delusion and a snare?
Do you think the comment 'It will all be the same in a hundred years' is profound, shallow, true or false?
What is the greatest happiness you can imagine? The greatest disaster?"
"If you find that you are balking at definite answers to the great questions, then you are not yet ready to write fiction which involves major issues. You must find subjects on which you are capable of making up your mind, to serve as the groundwork of your writing. The best books emerge from the strongest convictions--and for confirmation see any bookshelf." pg. 130
"Once we have learned to use words we must be forever using them." pg. 133
Book: borrowed from SSF Main Library.
"When you have succeeded in establishing these two habits--early morning writing and writing by agreement with yourself--you have come a long way on the writer's path. You have gained, on the one hand, fluency, and on the other control, even though in an elementary way. You know a great deal more about yourself, in all likelihood, than you did when you embarked on the exercises." pg. 81
"A kind of musing introspection or of speculation only sketched in is found in the essay writer's notebook, although with a grain of drama added and with the particularizing of an abstract speculation by assigning the various elements of the problem to characters who act out the idea, there is promise of the more meditative type of novelist." pg. 85
"Next set yourself to discover if you can see any connection between a good morning's work and the conditions of the evening before. Can you tell whether or not the good writing came after you had spent an active day, or after a quiet one? Did you write more easily after going to bed early, or after a short sleep? Is there any observable connection between seeing certain friends and the vividness or dullness of the next morning's work? How did you write on the morning after you had been to a theater, or to an exhibition of pictures, or to a dance? Notice such things, and try to arrange for the type of activity which results in good work." pg. 95
"It is well to understand as early as possible in one's writing life that there is just one contribution which every one of us can make: we can give into the common pool of experience some comprehension of the world as it looks to each of us. There is one sense in which everyone is unique. No one else was born of your parents, at just that time of just that country's history; no one underwent just your experiences, reached just your conclusions, or faces the world with the exact set of ideas that you must have. If you can come to such friendly terms with yourself that you are able and willing to say precisely what you think of any given situation or character, if you can tell a story as it can appear only to you of all the people on earth, you will inevitably have a piece of work which is original." pg 121
"Since this is so, it behooves you to know what you do believe of most of the major problems of life, and of those minor problems which you are going to use in your writing." pg.129
Her questionnaire:
"Do you believe in a God? Under what aspect? (Hardy's 'President of the Immortals,' Wells' 'emerging God'?)
Do you believe in free will or are you a determinist? (Although an artist-determinist is such a walking paradox that imagination staggers at the notion.)
Do you like men? Women? Children?
What do you think of marriage?
Do you consider romantic love a delusion and a snare?
Do you think the comment 'It will all be the same in a hundred years' is profound, shallow, true or false?
What is the greatest happiness you can imagine? The greatest disaster?"
"If you find that you are balking at definite answers to the great questions, then you are not yet ready to write fiction which involves major issues. You must find subjects on which you are capable of making up your mind, to serve as the groundwork of your writing. The best books emerge from the strongest convictions--and for confirmation see any bookshelf." pg. 130
"Once we have learned to use words we must be forever using them." pg. 133
Book: borrowed from SSF Main Library.