Write by Phil Daoust (Editor)
I first encountered this joy of a book when I attended a talk on a cold, snowy day at the Oxford Literary Festival in March last year. A couple of students from the Oxford Brookes MA Creative Writing course were using Meg Rosoff’s article on Voice as a basis for their discussion with her. I went home and bought the book, and have been dipping into it every since.
I’m not a huge fan of the often ubiquitous How to Write books that line the shelves of many a bookshop or public library. One of the few that I would give house room to and recommend gladly is the excellent (and original) The Way to Write by John Fairfax and John Moat.
Write is not a how to write book but a collection of essays, articles and top tips from a huge breadth of writers that will have you nodding in agreement or shaking your head with disbelief (but mostly the former). It is interesting both for readers, as an insight into their favourite writers, and as inspiration to anyone who is a writer.
Read it, keep it close to you, and refer to it often as gentle reminder as to why we are drawn to do what we must do.
