Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
The weekly letters Binchy wrote to students attending a 20-week writing course at the National College of Ireland are presented in this book along with contributions from other writers, publishers and editors, all offering “practical and emotional” advice.
Let’s move on to the Binchy book then.
It’s a bit like the Brande book in that it is a very easy book to read and it has a voice that reaches out to the writer. But what I like about it is that Maeve Binchy wrote it because she teaches students and I teach students myself. The book was inspired by a course run by the National College of Ireland and it’s made up of 20 letters from her offering advice and tips to writers. It’s got contributions from other writers, including well known ones like Marian Keyes, and publishers and editors too, so there’s really practical advice such as how to submit your manuscript. It also gives emotional advice on how to find your voice which is something that perplexes students. A writer discovering how to make their own writing stand out so that it is different from anybody else’s isn’t something that happens immediately. It can take three years of honing the way you write and then one day you might sit down and write something completely different. You realise that actually that’s what you feel most comfortable in and that’s what makes your writing stand out. That’s what’s called finding your voice. Binchy has some lovely tips on it. The thing I like about it very much is it’s divided into extremely short chapters such as ‘Where to Begin’, ‘How to Keep Going’ and ‘The Road to Success’. It talks about writing short stories as well as novels, how to cope when you get rejections and how to befriend publishers. It’s a very easy one to read. I like this very much –it’s practical and emotional.
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A journalist for more than 25 years, Jane Bidder writes fiction under the pen-name Sophie King. She is a frequent contributor to national British newspapers and magazines, including the Times and Good Housekeeping, and has authored a number of non-fiction books. She teaches creative writing at Oxford University, is writer-in-residence at a high-security prison and has recently published her fifth novel, “The Wedding Party”. Today she recommends the best books for aspiring writers.
