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Product Description
Product Description
Twelve years in the making, Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing is a must-read for students of creative writing. This collection is comprised of two sets of twelve essays each. "Materials" reflects on the history and animate nature of the objects we use in the act of writing, from computers, to pens and pencils, right down to paper. Warland subverts our assumptions about these tools by making the case that our materials are also our collaborators. Concepts investigates, names, and addresses the powerful forces at work beneath the language of craft. Warland shows that what ultimately determines whether a piece of writing succeeds or flounders is a writers ability to be humbled, overcome, or guided by these forces.
About the Author
Betsy Warland was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. She wrote her first two lyric prose essays in open if broken (1984) and was the Saskatoon Public Librarys Writer-in-Residence from 1993-94. In 2002 she taught a poetry workshop at Sage Hill, and is currently the director of The Writers Studio at Simon Frasier University, as well as the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive.
Betsy Warland was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. She wrote her first two lyric prose essays in open if broken (1984) and was the Saskatoon Public Library's Writer-in-Residence from 1993-94. In 2002 she taught a poetry workshop at Sage Hill, and is currently the director of The Writer's Studio at Simon Frasier University, as well as the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive.
Betsy Warland was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. She wrote her first two lyric prose essays in open if broken (1984) and was the Saskatoon Public Library's Writer-in-Residence from 1993-94. In 2002 she taught a poetry workshop at Sage Hill, and is currently the director of The Writer's Studio at Simon Frasier University, as well as the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Insightful Book for Writers,
By
This review is from: Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing (Paperback)
I've read my share of how-to writing books over the years. After all, writing is a lifelong learning process, so when a colleague recommended this book, I had to pick it up. Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing is a collection of essays mixed with interview segments about the act of writing, being a writer, and the all important--but often overlooked--preparation for writing. With more than forty years of writing and publishing experience, author Betsy Warland discusses this topic with a depth I've rarely heard before.Some of her topics might seem mundane, such as pencils, tables, and computers, but there are much more to these topics than meets the eye, and that's really what the book is about. Digging deeper into the act of writing; thinking about what one is doing, and why; pondering what works and what doesn't in your own work, and how problem areas might be solved. This is one of those books that you'll want to pick up repeatedly as you work on your prose and poetry. Warland clearly identifies common problems, such as what she calls billboarding: writing unnecessary and intrusive commentary, or scaffolding: the necessary writing during initial drafts to build narrative, but which writers often forget or refuse to remove during revision. A couple of essays were a little obscure, or perhaps too complex, for me to fully understand and digest on the first read. Still, I leaned so much that I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about writing well.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for writers!,
This review is from: Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing (Paperback)
Reading Breathing the Page takes you into a state of mindfulness around words and writing. You can feel Betsy's poetic nature and her love of the craft. She invites you to breath the page and examine things such as proximity, memory as metaphor and sustaining yourself as a writer in new and fresh ways. In this book she shares over thirty years of writing and teaching experience with us. For more information about Betsy and her other books please go to [...]
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Betsy Warland offers a deep analysis of the functions of narrative writing,
By Helen Gallagher - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing (Paperback)
A good book for a writer's desk, backpack, or bedside. "Breathing the Page" covers techniques critical to all writers, and will especially appeal to creative writing teachers, for its openness and clarity. Warland devotes much time to techniques such as proximity, the importance of time, and the challenge to feed into non-verbal language when addressing the reader, indicating that as much as 90 percent of how we communicate is non-verbal.
The overall feel of "Breathing the Page" mixes lessons on writing, such as form and structure, along with Warland's own essay excerpts, etymology, and informative Q & A segments. Essays on techniques that aid writers and poets include inscription, composition and the inescapable revision. My favorite essay, "The Table," is a lovely work that deserves to be reread frequently and should inspire the essay writers among us. Throughout Breathing the Page, Warland teaches nuances of good writing and has fun with words along the way, yet says, "A word has almost no meaning in itself." "Sustaining Yourself as a Writer" is a long piece with generous insights and complex layers, including introspective notes on the writer's life. While several of the books essays have been published elsewhere, a glance at the list of Warland's publishing history can serve as a great resource for your own publishing aspirations, and act as a reminder of every writer's need to keep writing, submitting, and succeeding. Helen Gallagher [...] Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Insightful Book for Writers,
By Debra Purdy Kong "Author of Casey Holland Tra... - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing (Paperback)
I've read my share of how-to writing books over the years. After all, writing is a lifelong learning process, so when a colleague recommended this book, I had to pick it up. Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing is a collection of essays mixed with interview segments about the act of writing, being a writer, and the all important--but often overlooked--preparation for writing. With more than forty years of writing and publishing experience, author Betsy Warland discusses this topic with a depth I've rarely heard before.Some of her topics might seem mundane, such as pencils, tables, and computers, but there are much more to these topics than meets the eye, and that's really what the book is about. Digging deeper into the act of writing; thinking about what one is doing, and why; pondering what works and what doesn't in your own work, and how problem areas might be solved. This is one of those books that you'll want to pick up repeatedly as you work on your prose and poetry. Warland clearly identifies common problems, such as what she calls billboarding: writing unnecessary and intrusive commentary, or scaffolding: the necessary writing during initial drafts to build narrative, but which writers often forget or refuse to remove during revision. A couple of essays were a little obscure, or perhaps too complex, for me to fully understand and digest on the first read. Still, I leaned so much that I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about writing well. |
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