Suitable for both beginning and advanced writers of fiction and nonfiction, The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life distills 20 years of teaching and creative thought by the well-published author Priscilla Long. The Writer's Portable Mentor helps writers understand and incorporate the regular practices of virtuoso creators; provides a guide to structuring literary, journalistic, or fictional pieces or entire books; opens the door to the sentence strategies of the masters; provides tools for developing a poet's ear for use in prose; trains writers in the observation skills of visual artists; and guides them toward more effective approaches to getting their work into the world. Says Maya Sonenberg, Director of the Creative Writing Program at University of Washington, "I have never seen anything quite like Priscilla Long's book. It presents a true alternative for the advanced writer."
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It seems that every "how to" book for writers offers the same advice. If you have already learned that you must get rid of the clutter, use more active verbs, etc. where do you go from there? To Priscilla Long's book. She offers NEW information about working with language that I, at least, have not found in other books "on writing," and I own quite a few of them. I'm reading it for a second time because there is a lot to digest here.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars
26 reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Inspirational Field Guide
July 16 2010
By Carol Holding
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I was a writer in a tough spot: for six months, I worked on one particular story, revising and rewriting it until it was as lifeless as a PowerPoint presentation. Looking for any way out, I re-read my favorite writing instructors --Dorothy Brandt, Jon Franklin, Ursula LaGuinn, Natalie Goldberg, Robert Pinsky -- and came up with nothing. I sent my drek to a published writer friend, who polished some more but couldn't save it. Then I was introduced to Priscilla Long's gorgeously written The Writer's Portable Mentor. Long is a National Magazine Award winner and it shows -- the book is a great read and as inspirational a guide to writing theory as any of the classics. And like the classics, Long includes sublime examples from other authors best suited to making her points. But what's so different is that Long's is also a Field Guide that takes you by the hand to learn by doing. Her exercises are so compelling that I would stop reading The Writer's Portable Mentor to take out my writing journal and, using the subject of my frozen piece as the focus, try them out. And they worked. I highly recommend Long's The Writer's Portable Mentor to writers at all levels and those who just dream about writing, in short to anyone who wants to read what a master has to say about the craft of writing.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Improves your writing
July 26 2010
By Nancy Penrose
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I was one of those writers that Priscilla Long describes as "having worked for years doing pretty good work," yet the quality of my writing remained "merely competent." Then I took classes from Priscilla. I learned how to approach language actively, ensure productivity, mine writing lessons from first-rate authors, and ask questions that deepen my subject. My writing improved and my short creative nonfictions began to get published. Now Priscilla's classes are captured in this book. Writers no longer have to live in Seattle, where she is based, or attend writing conferences, where she also teaches, to profit from her guidance. The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life puts her wisdom at hand, 24/7/365. Open the book and do an exercise. Use a piece you are working on. See your writing improve.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Works like an in-house editor
July 4 2010
By Kathie W
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This how-to-write book is big on productivity. How to keep producing new work, how to rewrite and make better what you've already written. It's not big on psychology or self analysis, which is one of its strengths. The Writer's Portable Mentor presumes that you're serious about your work and acts like an in-house editor. The section on Writing to See is worth the price of the whole book.
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4.8 out of 5 stars
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