Verlyn Klinkenborg

A few things hit home. Like trusting your readers and not dumbing things down for them. Breaking out of the templates you were handed in school. And at the end, he actually goes through a bunch of sentences and explains what's wrong with them in layman terms. Hardly anyone does this in 'How to Write' books, though it seems requisite.

The only thing I really disagree with is the turning over of sentences in your head until you get them perfect before writing them down. He gives his reasons. I just disagree. The hardest thing about writing is just... writing. So throwing up on the paper is fine as long as you get it down. I would rather have a so-so short story completed that I never have time to revise to perfection, than nothing but the first two perfect paragraphs of said story. I rant.

Overall, would recommend as there are plenty of ideas to pick and choose from. Not that it matters to anyone, but I listened to the Audible Audiobook, though that edition was not listed.… (mehr)

It is difficult to pretend that Gilbert White’s tortoise Timothy had the same literary skills as his ‘owner’. However, picking up a copy of Timothy’s book: notes of an English country tortoise by Verlyn Klinkenborg whom I took first to be a publisher rather than the author, I was spurred on to things that I thought might be great. It was the handwritten inscription that provided the spur. ‘For Kurt on his 19th birthday. You’ll learn a lot from this book. Love Rachelle and Anastasia’. Gilbert’s observations are seen through Timothy’s eyes. I soon came across a corner of a page turned over, a despicable habit. This was on pages 3 and 4 out of a total of 181 pages. I realised too that it was the only such instance of a turned over corner. That is as far as I got myself. The device of an observant Timothy is clever but just did not work for me.… (mehr)

On the cover of this book, there is a blurb from the New York Journal of Books: “Best book on writing. Ever.”

It’s an excellent example of the Klinkenborg’s advocacy for the power of short sentences. Even if it is, perhaps, a bit hyperbolic.

This is a book I am going to read again. I think it will take a second and third reading to maximize the potential benefits.

Klinkenborg offers a philosophy of writing and it is a lot to absorb in one reading.

One of his main points is that aspiring writers write too soon. They’re too anxious to get something on the page. Even if it sucks. He counsels that writers should have more patience. Think about each sentence, don’t put something down as a placeholder so you can get on to the next sentence.

I’ve been trying to do that. Spend less time stressing on number of words and more time thinking about what it is I’m trying to accomplish.

When I win some major writing award. Or secure an agent. Or find a publisher. I’ll let you know if his ideas have helped.

It is probably a truism that we tend to like books and essays where we agree with the author, so I’m not sure everyone will love this books as much as I did. But I did.

… (mehr)