So You Want to Write ()

August 1, 2001
"Work is its own cure. You have to like it better than being loved," writes novelist and poet Marge Piercy in the poem that prefaces her and novelist Ira Wood's (The Kitchen Man) guide for careerist writers, So You Want to Write: How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction and the Personal Narrative. "This book is a product of workshops we have given for many years," write the authors, and those not lucky enough to have participated in the workshops can now benefit from their no-nonsense wisdom. Eschewing the current trend in process-based writing classes and guides, Piercy and Wood urge writers to read critically and often; to ask themselves specific, exacting questions about their characters and plots; to complete the book's writing exercises; to do research in order to make a piece of writing believable; to participate in some kind of community of writers; and numerous other practical steps. Readers will appreciate the hardcore approach of these two dedicated writers.