Thank you Bridget Whelan

I got a lovely surprise in the post today. I received a copy of Back to Creative Writing School by Bridget Whelan. This book has been available as an eBook but now the print version is also available.

I love creative writing books.

Part of this is because I teach creative writing, and I enjoy seeing how other tutors are conveying information to students. Part of this is because I’m a writer and I’m always curious to see how an author has balanced the aim of their book between goals of writing for financial benefits and writing for literary acclaim.

Once, after my local book store had been refurbished, I spent half an hour looking for the creative writing books because I was keen to browse the latest titles. I couldn’t locate the particular shelves anywhere so I approached a young woman behind the till.

“I’m looking for your books on creative writing,” I explained. “Could you please tell me where they are?”

“What?”

“Books on writing,” I repeated.

She sniffed as though I was stupid. “All the books have got writing in them.”

It’s because of that I do a lot of my book shopping online. There are worries in the publishing industry that print might be dead. I’m more worried that shop staff in local stores are already flat-lining.

But I digress. I was singing the praises of Bridget’s brilliant book. It’s a cool layout, and a useful resource for anyone interested in creative writing. There are exercises I use from this book to start my daily writing routine and there are plenty of others that I’ve shared with my classes.

If you’ve got any interest in creative writing, Back to Creative Writing School is well worth picking up.