Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life (Hardcover)

George has much to say about the job of writing and how she masters it. Basically, Write Away is about Elizabeth George, the writer. Her chapters address the same subjects on the craft as other writing books, but the emphasis is on her writing style and beliefs.

She starts off by telling us she believes the fundamentals of fiction can be taught. Although writing can be taught, art, passion and discipline cannot. The lessons begin with an overview of "the craft." George's teachings cover characters, settings, landscape and plotting. She then moves to "The Basics," which are plotting, moving on from an idea, decisions, viewpoint, voice, dialogue, the scene, and wrapping up the loose ends about the craft, such as suspense. Part four is about the process, and part five offers "Examples and Guides." Like other writing books, George includes writing examples by famous authors, as well as many from her books.

Like Stephen King's _On Writing_, which was praised as a memoir with writing lesson, George's _Write Away_ has its place on the how-to shelf. There are things novice writers can glean from writing books by popular authors like George and King. What I like most about them is that they appeal to those who would most likely never attempt to write, but do because they picked up a book on writing by their favorite author.

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If you intend to be a writing teacher or write novels while you pursue your accounting career, then of course this isn't relevant.

But you won't find many guides with as much specific help as George's offers. The proof, of course, is in the pudding: what she does *works*. It might not work for you--but you need to be careful that you don't reject it 'cause it looks ugly or you just don't like it or you're really not serious enough...or she's not serious enough for you.

I rather disagree with her taste in literature. (Kingsolver is one of the worst blots on American letters ever...only Nicholson Baker comes close.) On the other hand, she has an uncanny ability to see what works in Kingsolver and pass it along. (It must work for someone, after all, and the point of being a writer of any kind or seriousness is to be able to translate information into something else. That is, you get to take what works in Kingsolver and *transmute* it into something more morally and aesthetically serious, if you like. I mean, you *are* talented, aren't you?)

She manages to convey one of the hardest things to learn about being a writer, which is the difference between your own headstrong opinions and those of your readers. (It's a lot like dating: you're allowed to think you're attractive, or you won't get anywhere, but you don't get to decide whether you have bad breath.) The point is simple: you *ought* to disagree with her, but you also need to learn from her, and she offers solid help.

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Where George differs from many other writers is that she writes about a place (England) where she was not raised and does not live. However, the process she uses to ensure her mysteries are realistic is interesting in and of itself.

People who believe the writing process is some mysterious and murky voodoo only a few are lucky enough to know will be pleasantly surprised at how clearly George describes the writing process, even if the path that they discover works best for them is not identical.

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