3.5
On Writing
ByPublisher Description
Eudora Welty was one of the twentieth century’s greatest literary figures. For as long as students have been studying her fiction as literature, writers have been looking to her to answer the profound questions of what makes a story good, a novel successful, a writer an artist. On Writing presents the answers in seven concise chapters discussing the subjects most important to the narrative craft, and which every fiction writer should know, such as place, voice, memory, and language. But even more important is what Welty calls “the mystery” of fiction writing—how the writer assembles language and ideas to create a work of art.
Originally part of her larger work The Eye of the Story but never before published in a stand-
alone volume, On Writing is a handbook every fiction writer, whether novice or master, should keep within arm’s reach. Like The Elements of Style, On Writing is concise and fundamental, authoritative and timeless—as was Eudora Welty herself.
Originally part of her larger work The Eye of the Story but never before published in a stand-
alone volume, On Writing is a handbook every fiction writer, whether novice or master, should keep within arm’s reach. Like The Elements of Style, On Writing is concise and fundamental, authoritative and timeless—as was Eudora Welty herself.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities13 Reviews
3.5
Suzanne O’Gwynn
Created almost 2 years agoShare
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Patte Harding
Created about 4 years agoShare
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“In my quest to read all the books about writing written by writers, I borrowed this one from the library. I was not familiar with Eudora Welty before reading it and am glad that I discovered her. The book contains a collection of essays about writing fiction.
I wrote 14 pages of notes, most of them long quotes I will reread many times for inspiration. Here's one example,
"And so finally I think we need to write with love. Not in self-defense, not in hate, not in the mood of instruction, not in rebuttal, in any kind of militance, or in apology, but with love. Not in exorcisement, either, for this is to make the reader bear a thing for you.
"Neither do I speak of writing forgivingly; out of love you can write with great fury. It is the source of the understanding I speak of: it's this that determines its nature and its reach."
I struggled to understand many sections of Welty's writing, especially when she referenced works I had not read. Some paragraphs felt like I was reading a foreign language. The essays dated from 1949 to 1974, and I felt they became easier to understand as she relaxed some of the formality in her language of the earlier essays.
This little book is a gem. I wrote down titles and authors she referenced to add to my Want to Read list and books to look for when visiting used book stores. Welty's advice for writers isn't a how-to book, but a loftier vision, description, and philosophy of fiction as art to communicate truth and the human condition.”
Roxann Holloway
Created about 4 years agoShare
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Jamie
Created about 5 years agoShare
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“"We can never stop trying to make feelings felt."
"For we have to remember what the novel is. Made by the imagination for the imagination, it is an illusion come full circle..."”
PolskaBanana
Created about 5 years agoShare
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About Eudora Welty
One of America's most admired authors, Eudora Welty was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1909. She was educated locally and at Mississippi State College for Women, the University of Wisconsin, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. She is the author of, among many other books, One Writer's Beginnings, The Robber Bridegroom, Delta Wedding, The Ponder Heart, Losing Battles, and The Optimist's Daughter, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. She died in 2001.
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