I don't believe I ever commented on Elizabeth Berg
's guide to writing Escaping Into the Open: The Art of Writing True
. It's a really pompous title for a really lovely book.Instead of tackling the tiny bits and pieces, the mechanics of writing like Gardner does, she focuses on life as a writer and makes this the niche that her book fills. Berg tells of how she balanced (or didn't balance) life while freelancing for magazines, her transition to fiction, short fiction and novels, how to find a writing group, how to approach a relationship with an agent, how to deal with jealous friends and jealousy in yourself, which of course springs from her experience with success and seeing friends become successful at a faster pace than yourself. And she does all this while raising kids and keeping her husband from sending a search party out to find his missing wife.
I give it my stamp of approval. It serves a purpose no other writing book I've found has.Speaking of purposes, I'm currently rereading tidbits from Bird by Bird
, Anne Lamott, to help me with my sanity and will to move forward.
