Process: The Writing Lives of Great Authors

I think this book is insightful for the careful reader but also for the aspiring writer in regards to what is necessary for a writing lifestyle to take shape.

My goodness, I affirmed so many of my own rituals, obsessions, and habits while reading how other successful authors start writing. I also am fixated with economical phrases and words. I take lots of notes. When I hear a phrase that attaches itself to me, I write it down. Eventually it will fit into dialog or simply be inspirational.

This book was like being a fly on the walls of your favorite writers. If you want insight on how they do it, read this book. This book will go in my permanent library.

There is a lot of interesting information in this book and it evidences a lot of effort and scholarship, but...The writer is a so-so writer—and, needs a better editor. The idea of the book is to find similarities and differences among great writers—presumably as an aid to wannabe authors.In this reviewer's opinion, Stodola focuses too much on minutia: whether authors write with pencil or type, whether they write standing up or sitting, etc., and not enough on the nuts and bolts of their writing process: do they outline or write from page one, how do they/how much do they self edit, etc.She does a credible job detailing the later (writing process), but haphazardly, as the book is organized on a per author basis. Better to organize the book by common traits. Then... highlight the dissimilar.One could argue it is more "interesting" to focus on each writer's life. My guess is, that was the editorial decision made early on in the book's writing. But this book is not fiction. And its likely readers are not general readers but writers thirsting for knowledge on craft. Such a reader's interest will be held—not by biography—but by answers. And the clearer those answers are presented, the more interesting, and effective, the book will be.Moving on: chapters include a section on each author entitled "A Day In The Writer's Life." Too often, some of the information in this section has been covered earlier in the particular author's chapter. What editor missed this?The author uses the word "abscond" incorrectly twice and in fairly close proximity. It means: "leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid detection of or arrest for an unlawful action such as theft." Stodola uses it to describe writers hiding themselves away to concentrate on writing. While perhaps "technically," her usage is not wrong, it sounds wrong the way she uses it as the "theft" element is missing.A swing... and mostly a miss.

I’ve always wondered about the processes of other writers, if only to justify my own. They are as varied as the people from which Stodola mines information.I was struck by the fact that although their processes are extremely varied, as are their workdays, their sources of inspiration, and the tricks they play on themselves to increase output and reduce angst, none seem to be “plotters,” and that their inspiration comes from esoteric and often almost ethereal concepts, the types of ideas it is very difficult to plot around. And they change their minds and alter plots often and drastically. They may or may not believe in muses (most don’t) but something drives this behavior. Perfectionism, a never wavering sense of responsibility to the work, of getting it “right. Something.These are great literary writers, and I am a genre fiction writer. The concepts they grapple with may be more complex, but the emotions are often the same. And as writers we all struggle with the same things. Fear, doubt, procrastination, guilt, the often never-ending urge to “fix.” It heartened me to learn that we struggle with the same issues in often the same way. As the great contemporary romance writer Susan Elizabeth Phillips has said, “you’re not special.”Highly recommended to anyone who creates art in any form in which they put their psyches on the line. Which is all of us.

It's eternally tempting to think if you just knew how a famous writer worked, you too could get similar results.There are no magics secrets to writing. This book clearly shows that as it takes brief looks at writers classic and contemporary to see how they work. Over and over again, this book proves that almost any approach can work for a good writer -- the key is to keep writing. (It was interesting to learn how many great writers struggle with it.)Each essay on a writer is short and follows a consistent structure so you get the same type of information for each. The featured writers span time and offer a good variety of authors. This is an easy book to pick up and put down as time allows (or inspiration is needed) and it doesn't have to be read in order.

I enjoyed Process: The Writing Lives of Great Authors. As an aspiring writer it’s interesting to see that I’m not alone in my quirky writing nature. The insight offered by Stodola about each author is shared in an interesting way. I found the book and authors written of within fascinating. Thank you!

I was not expecting to find this so fascinating based on the cover. As a writer it really is good to read a book all about how published and well respected writers handled the writing life. It makes it very clear that writing is not something Tha has a clear path to success. All these writer's methods are so very different. The "there is no right way" is very inspiring and it becomes clear that the only right way is the path that gets you writing and working towards the book

The author of this book has invested much time and effort in delving through existing documentary evidence on the way several well-known and renowned authors gave gone about writing their best known, and other works. Each author merits a short account of their life and writing habits, rounded of by a short account (rarely longer than one page) of a typical writing day for that particular author. The overall result is interesting because the range of authors is wide and well chosen. But anyone who hopes to discern a secret to becoming a successful author will be confounded. Well -- I was. There are no patterns, and hardly any commonalities. However, the big plus point for me was that I came away reinforced in my self-belief. My approach to writing seems as good as anyone else's. What's required to become one of the greats -- apart from luck, and an excellent publisher, and adequate exposure -- is a genius idea (and they're few and far between) and a writing style that suits the genius idea and simultaneously appeals to a significant fraction of the reading publish. And keep in mind, apparently they are mostly female! That's not asking too much, is it?

This is an informative interesting look at some of the most famous authors write and craft their books From George Orwell to. TONI Morrison to Zadie Smith we are given an insight to the habits of these famous authors. Whether it's how many words per day they cover, or the reasons why they write.A few surprises and revelations along the makes this an enjoyable must read for any bibliophile or perhaps anyone who has ever considered putting pen to paper.The insights from this book were an eye opening delight and I rate it a four star read.

Excellent book. Excellent service.

The one page synopses of each writer's process are nowhere near as important as the details of each writer's life.In reading each one, you see where they are vastly different and all the same.The message - to me - is very simple. Writer's write whenever they can, at all costs, and not all of them are stories they finish. I loved reading this and it seemed to open something in me. It gave me permission to write the way I want without having to worry about fitting into some mould created by someone who has no idea what I am.Why stress about a story you don't finish? Get the idea down as fast as you can so you can get back to it later.But don't forget, story comes first.You can have all the cool characters you want - with nuance and depth and background and all that stuff. But you better give them something to do.In the end, thank you for writing this book and I hope other writers get the same value from it that I did.

A good light-read about the lives of authors. Serves as a brief biography and high-level description of how/when they wrote, how they dealt with the challenges of writing. Doesn't really discuss the complexities of their writing process or the details of how they created literature.