How to be a writer

Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers - Carolyn See (Ballantine Books, 2002)


I've always loved writing without really having any real conception of how I could be a writer. Do I want to be? Do I not? Reading this book didn't really help answer that question, but See is just about all you could want in a mentor. She is honest and witty and eccentric and self-aware.

The book covers the preparatory period, and ways to psych yourself up for writing. (This includes writing "charming notes" to those you admire.) It then moves on to the writing process, and how to conceive of major aspects of writing, such as plot, space, characters, etc. Her assertion that the 10 "most important" people in your life are your characters led me make my list, and realize that there were some surprising names on there. And finally, the last section is about all the work YOU have to do to get your work out there, and published, and promoted, and everything else. It all sounds exhausting, to be honest.

But if nothing else, See reminded me how much I enjoy writing, and watching words flow from my fingers onto a page (or screen). And as I said above, she really makes quite a mentor.