Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story

By Ursula K. Le Guin

Book Overview

From the celebrated Ursula K. Le Guin, "a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller" (Boston Globe), the revised and updated edition of her classic guide to the essentials of a writer's craft.

Completely revised and rewritten to address modern challenges and opportunities, this essential creative writing handbook is a short, deceptively simple guide to the craft of writing.

Le Guin lays out ten chapters that address the most fundamental components of narrative writing, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view. Each chapter combines illustrative examples from the global canon with Le Guin's own witty commentary and an exercise that the writer can do solo or in a group. She also offers a comprehensive guide to working in writing groups, both actual and online.

Masterly and concise, Steering the Craft deserves a place on every writer's shelf.

This celebrated guide to the art of storytelling focuses on the essentials:

The Elements of Craft: Ten focused chapters on the essential tools of narrative, from the music of language and sentence construction to the strategic use of adjectives and adverbs.Point of View and Voice: A masterclass in choosing and maintaining a point of view, with witty commentary and clear examples that demystify narrative voice.Practical Writing Exercises: Engaging exercises at the end of each chapter, designed to sharpen your skills whether you work alone or with a group.Guidance for Writing Groups: An invaluable guide to participating in--and benefiting from--peer group workshops, both in-person and online.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0544611616
• ISBN13: 9780544611610
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A Journey Well Worth Taking

Very, very few writers these days will share their knowledge of how to become better writers. Many will write books on how to sell what you've written or how to write novels that will fly off the shelves, but few provide any real, practical information on how to hone the craft of writing. Let such things not be said about Ursula K. Le Guin.Le Guin says that while the "gift" can't be earned, the craft of writing can. All artists practice and work at their craft: musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers....even writers. The craft can be developed and Le Guin shows us how. You won't find any pie-in-the-sky philosophies about writing in this book, just practical information which, if followed, will make you a better writer. Le Guin's chapters include:The Sound of Your WritingSentence Length and Complex SyntaxRepetitionAdjective and AdverbPoint of View and VoiceChanging Point of Viewand much more.Each chapter contains writing exercises specific to the chapter topic. (Le Guin also suggests many titles for further reading.) This book will become a gold mine to any writer of fiction or creative non-fiction. It's the perfect book to use for a writers' group or peer group. Thank you, Ms. Le Guin, for sharing your gift with us.

Steering the craft will float your boat!

I don't write fiction (yet) but reading this book actually changed how I read literature. Le Guin is a prize-winning author of science fiction novels. She runs writers workshops and this is a book of exercises such as you would encounter in one of her work groups.But the amazing thing about this book is that even if you don't write a single word or do a single exercise, it will change how you view the books you read. Her chapters on rhythm in writing (using Virginia Woolf as an example) changed how I read any novel. Now I look for the music in the words as well as the style and structure of the book. Another chapter is on "being gorgeous" or using the flow of adjectives. She gives another exercise in being abstemious with the use of adverbs. At the end of the book are ideas for starting writers' groups and workshops of your own.I list this book as a must for English teachers and for anyone who loves literature.

Not simplistic like some writing advice books

Steering the Craft is useful for anyone engaged in creative writing, whether the outcome is fiction or narrative nonfiction. Her exercises are meant to be consciousness-raisers, says LeGuin, whom I interviewed for my own bestselling WRITING IN FLOW, and whom I found to be quite forthcoming about her writing process. In this book, for instance, she covers how to show characters thinking, shifting points of view, the uses of repetition, and so on. Although I normally don't care for exercises as such, hers are fresh and flexible (write a page of descriptive narrative without adjectives or adverbs or dialogue; you can do this as part of whatever you're working on). An original contribution to the advice field.