Review: The Muse On Writing

Editor: Lea Schizas

ISBN: 1554043174

The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN:Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW Norm Goldman's Reviews

The Muse on Writing was published, as Editor Lea Schizas declares in the introduction, “to unravel some writing aspects in a way not presented in other writing books.” To accomplish this feat she has amassed nineteen excellent writers and authors, each of whom have combined their knowledge pertaining to important topics as the writer’s voice, conflict, plotting, dialogue, characterization, inspirational writing, writer’s block, and editing. In addition, there are chapters covering topics that are generally not found in books of a similar nature, such as psychological diagnoses that writers may find useful, helping kids to become writers, screenwriting, writing for digital games, and flash fiction.

You are probably wondering, as I did, what is flash fiction? Mike Kechula, who has written twenty-nine nonfiction books, recently switched to this genre and he has won first prize in four flash fiction contests. His contribution pertaining to this new literary form is an eye-opener, and if you are interested in trying your hand at flash fiction, this chapter will be of immense help. The chapter divides itself into six sections: discovering flash fiction, getting started, meeting reader expectations, hitting the mark, finding story ideas, twelve tips for developing genre flash fiction. The result is an extraordinary collection of useful tips providing newcomers as well as seasoned writers with a veritable goldmine pertaining to flash fiction.

Another excellent chapter and one that is not very often included in books on the craft of writing is Robert A. Redmond’s contribution that offers insights into teaching students how to write. Redmond has conducted workshops for teachers, and he passes along his knowledge pertaining to such topics as developing a community of writers, workshops, lessons, ways to gather ideas, giving feedback to writers, and other vital elements of writing.

Conveniently divided the diversity of topics covered in The Muse On Writing is written in a highly readable style that presents tours of specific areas of the writing process. Moreover, the book is admirable in its scope as it manages to pack in a wealth of information in a stimulating and focused manner that will aid you in honing your skills. This book has truly something for everyone-even a chapter with author interviews conducted by Lea Schizas that are quite fascinating to read!