Editegrity
  • Home
  • FAQ
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Blog

The Editor Who Reads Too Much
~a writing, editing, publishing & book blog~

Becoming a Writer

20/11/2019

 
Picture

 Title: Becoming a Writer

Author: Dorothea Brande

Genre: Writing

Own it: On my shelf!

Publisher: J.P. Tarcher


Authors, this post is for you if you’re looking for writing inspiration, you need look no further than Brande’s classic Becoming a Writer.

Readers (who aren’t writers) this book might give you tips for how you can work to accomplish whatever goals you may have. Her tips actually work when applied to any task you want to accomplish, from learning coding to learning a new language.

I take notes when I read, and I found myself highlighting everything. Nearly every line of Brande’s could be a tip on a coffee mug. Every sentence is motivational while also realistic. She doesn’t promise you’ll write a best seller; she reminds you that you can write, despite every obstacle thrown in your path. It takes dedication and a willingness to do something for your own good. 

I’ve been trying out Brande’s advice with varying results. When I read the book in 2018, I started getting up a bit earlier to write. Typically the first half an hour was grumbled and garbled as I struggle to wake up, but the second half hour was productive. 
In the last two years, I was able to accomplish two major writing goals: to move my previous blog’s posts into Word documents to save them, and to begin an adaptation of a novel into a film. 

There’s a feel-good factor in this. I now know how morning athletes feel when they’ve already run ten miles and it’s only 8 a.m. I feel the same. I wouldn’t have gotten here without Brande’s kind but forceful encouragement.

But I haven’t been able to keep it up. It’s been difficult to get up early for a few months, so instead I decided to try a different tip: to cultivate a temperament to be able to write at any time of day. 

My current life demands that I focus on difficult editing tasks in the morning, moving my writing time to after lunch—when my brain is usually dead. I struggle. 
​
Day-by-day in fifteen-minute increments, I’m getting myself to write after lunch, just snippets. It’s been two months and afternoon writing is getting much easier.  

What I want to tell readers about this book is that Brande has actionable suggestions and useful advice. I recommend every writer read this book and choose one tip to work on over a few weeks. If it doesn’t work, try a different one. If nothing else, you’ll come away feeling good, and it’ll last a while, so take advantage of it to get some words down! 


Blog FAQ

2/9/2019

 
Why does the world need another book blog? 
That’s a silly question, so I’ll skip it. 

Why am I starting the book blog? 
In 2019, I set my Goodreads Reading Challenge at fifty-two books. In hindsight, it was not a good idea. I was amazed that I actually could read fifty-two books in a year and amazed at how much I couldn't remember of all that I read.
 
Who is this blog for? 
First of all, it's for me, to help me remember what I read.

Second, it's for writers, authors, and readers.

I read a lot and I wanted to find a way for authors to benefit from that. I find good examples of different aspects of the craft of writing to share from those books. That way you don't have to read the whole book (but you should!) if you 're just looking for quick examples. 

Finally, this is also a blog for readers who aren't sure if a book is for them. I hope to give just enough information to help you decide to pick it up!

What kinds of books do you read?
Fiction genres
historical
literary
fantasy
sci-fi
classics
mysteries
YA
plays

Nonfiction genres
history
biography 
autobiography
memoir
travel writing 
editing
creative writing
philosophy
cookbooks 
economics  

I even read the US government’s IRS Tax Publications for heaven’s sake. 
 
Do I have time to read another blog?
Yes, entries will be short. Nothing longer than 900 words. I know you don’t have a lot of time!
 
Will these be book reviews?
No. Plenty of other fine readers and book bloggers and vloggers are doing amazing jobs reviewing books. While I promise not to give away any spoilers, I’m not going to tell you what the book is about—the focus is only what I thought worth remembering. 
 
That’s pretty subjective, isn’t it?
Yes, it is! However, in my daily life as an editor, I spend ninety percent of my time being objective, following style guides and rule books. I hope to be allowed an opinion and some feelings occasionally.
 
Why are there are other topics on this blog?
I don't live in a black hole and everything is connected!

Editing is my profession, so I read editing and writing books, and I'll share the ones I like.

Technically I work in publishing, a murky, mysterious field that authors and writers can benefit from knowing more about.  

What else?

I like to be positive, so I'll only share good things about books I liked. All authors works hard on their books, and all take different advice and different routes. Liking a book is subjective. Just because I didn't like something doesn't mean I need to shout about it to the world. 

Welcome to my bookshelves! 


    Author

    I read a lot and I hope to help authors with the craft of writing. I share good examples of difficult aspects of writing: point of view, narration, world building and more.

    Occasionally I give editing tips and share insights from the world of publishing. 

    The author of the blog stands infront of the purple Knight Bus from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    Send me an email!

    Recent Posts

    Endgame
    England's Queens: The Biography
    Keeping Up With the Editors
    ​Happy Birthday, Poe!
    Appreciate a Dragon Day
    I Was Wrong – Or What I Learned from a Year on the SYP London Committee
    Shortlist of the Best Books I Read in 2020
    V for Vendetta
    Rebecca
    The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
    Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen
    Wishful Drinking
    The Giver
    The Mandibles: A Family 2029–2047
    The Diary of a Bookseller
    The Dutch House
    The Uncrowned Queen: The Fateful Life of Margaret Beaufort
    Becoming a Writer
    Homegoing
    Things Fall Apart
    ​Blog FAQ
    Welcome to My Bookshelves!

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019


    Categories

    All
    2020
    Africa
    Anarchy
    Anchor Books
    Anglo Saxons
    Banking
    Biography
    Birthdays
    Bloomsbury
    Book Blogs
    Book Club
    BookMachine
    BookMarchine
    Books
    Bookseller
    Bookshelves
    Bookshops
    Box Hill
    Capitalism
    Carrie Fisher
    Chaos
    Christmas Books
    Classics
    Collapse
    Comics
    Communication
    Copyeditor's Handbook
    Copyeditor's Workbook
    Corona Virus
    Counting Books
    Debbie Reynolds
    Diary
    Diary Of A Bookseller
    Dictionary
    Doubleday
    Dragons
    Dr. Burney
    Drinking
    Dr. Samuel Johnson
    Dystopia
    Economics
    Economy
    Edgar Allan Poe
    Editing
    Editor
    Elizabeth Norton
    Emma Of Normandy
    Family
    Family History
    Fanny Burney
    Fantasy
    Farrar
    Fiction
    Finance
    Freelance
    Genre
    Graphic Novels
    Guildhall
    Harper
    Hiking
    History
    Hollywood
    Houses Of Parliament
    Jane Austen
    Japan
    Jonathan Cape
    J.P. Tarcher
    Knopf
    Knowledge
    Learning
    Letters
    Library
    Literary Fiction
    Lives Of Women
    Lockdown
    Lockdown Christmas
    Londinium
    London
    London Bookshop Crawl
    London History
    London Open House
    Medieval History
    Memoir
    Michael O'Mara
    Motivation
    Murder Mystery
    Networking
    Nonfiction
    Palace Of Westminster
    Penguin Random House
    Plays
    Pocket Books
    Political Science
    Progress Report
    Proofreading
    Publishing
    Queen Of England
    Queens
    Roman Ruins
    Roots
    Royal Courts Of Justice
    Royal Family
    Royal History
    Short Stories
    Simon & Schuster
    Skills
    Sourcebooks Landmark
    Starting A Business
    Star Wars
    St. Dunstan In The East
    St. Paul's Cathedral
    Straus And Giroux
    Study
    Theater
    The Shard
    The Strand
    The Walkie-Talkie
    Thriller
    Tips
    True Love
    Tudor
    UK Travel
    V For Vendetta
    Vikings
    Volunteer
    War Of The Roses
    Westminster Abbey
    Wigtown
    Writer Tips
    Writing
    Writing Advice
    YA
    Zoom


    RSS Feed



​​Contact​
FAQ
​About

© Kelly Urgan 2016–2021

  • Home
  • FAQ
  • About
  • Portfolio
  • Resources
  • Contact
  • Blog