Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew

Le Guin says that while the "gift" can't be earned, the craft of writing can. All artists practice and work at their craft: musicians, painters, sculptors, dancers....even writers. The craft can be developed and Le Guin shows us how.

You won't find any pie-in-the-sky philosophies about writing in this book, just practical information which, if followed, will make you a better writer. Le Guin's chapters include:

The Sound of Your Writing
Sentence Length and Complex Syntax
Repetition
Adjective and Adverb
Point of View and Voice
Changing Point of View
and much more.

Each chapter contains writing exercises specific to the chapter topic. (Le Guin also suggests many titles for further reading.) This book will become a gold mine to any writer of fiction or creative non-fiction. It's the perfect book to use for a writers' group or peer group. Thank you, Ms. Le Guin, for sharing your gift with us.


Steering the craft will float your boat!   February 22, 2001
Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA)
27 out of 29 found this review helpful

I don't write fiction (yet) but reading this book actually changed how I read literature.

Le Guin is a prize-winning author of science fiction novels. She runs writers workshops and this is a book of exercises such as you would encounter in one of her work groups.

But the amazing thing about this book is that even if you don't write a single word or do a single exercise, it will change how you view the books you read. Her chapters on rhythm in writing (using Virginia Woolf as an example) changed how I read any novel. Now I look for the music in the words as well as the style and structure of the book.

Another chapter is on "being gorgeous" or using the flow of adjectives. She gives another exercise in being abstemious with the use of adverbs. At the end of the book are ideas for starting writers' groups and workshops of your own.

I list this book as a must for English teachers and for anyone who loves literature.


Not simplistic like some writing advice books   March 12, 2000
Susan K. Perry (Los Angeles, author of LOVING IN FLOW (BunnyApe.com))
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

Steering the Craft is useful for anyone engaged in creative writing, whether the outcome is fiction or narrative nonfiction. Her exercises are meant to be consciousness-raisers, says LeGuin, whom I interviewed for my own bestselling WRITING IN FLOW, and whom I found to be quite forthcoming about her writing process. In this book, for instance, she covers how to show characters thinking, shifting points of view, the uses of repetition, and so on. Although I normally don't care for exercises as such, hers are fresh and flexible (write a page of descriptive narrative without adjectives or adverbs or dialogue; you can do this as part of whatever you're working on). An original contribution to the advice field.


An excellent book for those who want to write   April 5, 2001
David (Kodiak, AK)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

If you want to start writing, this is the book that will help you start. Ursula Le Guin is an excellent author and she gives great advice to those who want to be one. She includes several exercises to help you start writing and she gives excellent tips to help improve technique. She also gives several examples of what good writing looks like and how to get there.

If you don't want to write, this is still great reading because as you read this book you will also gain a better appreciation for good writing, plus, Le Guin's writing is, as always, exceptional and fun to read.


A Refreshing Text on Creative Writing   March 13, 2003
Dingbats (U.S.A.)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

"Steering the Craft" is a surprisingly good and practical book on creative writing. I was surprised because books and essays on writing by established authors can be downright patronizing and intentionally vague. Le Guin, on the other hand, uses lucid language and a gentle tone to explain the essential elements of good prose writing. The examples she uses are eye-opening, perhaps because I keep seeing the same examples from the same group of contemporary authors in most recent books on writing. Her exercises are also innovative, especially those intended to help fiction writers recognize the subtle "music" in prose, and how that is different from poetry. Scattered throughout the book are several opinion pieces where Le Guin discusses various trends in contemporary prose writing. This is where you decide whether her book is right for you--Le Guin definitely has some strong views: she believes that immediacy of the present tense narrative is an illusion and is equally skeptical about hybrid genre prose. If you are in agreement with her or can live with those views, then I have no qualms about recommending this little gem.