Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story - Paperback

From the celebrated Ursula K. Le Guin, "a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller" (Boston Globe), the revised and updated edition of her classic guide to the essentials of a writer's craft.

Completely revised and rewritten to address modern challenges and opportunities, this essential creative writing handbook is a short, deceptively simple guide to the craft of writing.

Le Guin lays out ten chapters that address the most fundamental components of narrative writing, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view. Each chapter combines illustrative examples from the global canon with Le Guin's own witty commentary and an exercise that the writer can do solo or in a group. She also offers a comprehensive guide to working in writing groups, both actual and online.

Masterly and concise, Steering the Craft deserves a place on every writer's shelf.

This celebrated guide to the art of storytelling focuses on the essentials:

• The Elements of Craft: Ten focused chapters on the essential tools of narrative, from the music of language and sentence construction to the strategic use of adjectives and adverbs.
• Point of View and Voice: A masterclass in choosing and maintaining a point of view, with witty commentary and clear examples that demystify narrative voice.
• Practical Writing Exercises: Engaging exercises at the end of each chapter, designed to sharpen your skills whether you work alone or with a group.
• Guidance for Writing Groups: An invaluable guide to participating in--and benefiting from--peer group workshops, both in-person and online.

Back Jacket

There is no better spirit in all of American letters than that of Ursula Le Guin. Slate

Le Guin is a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller with the humor and force of a Twain. She creates stories for everyone from New Yorker literati to the hardest audience, children. She remakes every genre she uses. Boston Globe

A modernized, new edition of an essential guide to the writing craft, presented by a brilliant practitioner of the art

Completely revised and rewritten to address the challenges and opportunities of the modern era, this handbook is a short, deceptively simple guide to the craft of writing. The ten chapters shed light on the most fundamental components of narrative, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view. Each chapter combines illustrative examples from the global canon with Ursula Le Guin s own witty commentary and an exercise that the writer can do solo or in a group. Le Guin also offers a comprehensive guide to working in writing groups, both actual and online.

Masterly and concise, Steering the Craft deserves a place on every writer s shelf.

Over the course of her career, Ursula K. Le Guin has published more than sixty books of fiction, fantasy, children s literature, poetry, drama, criticism, and translation. She is the winner of many awards, including the PEN/Malamud Award and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters."