For writers only

Writing is rarely the calm, orderly activity people imagine. Advice on how to do it contradicts itself at every turn, with nearly as many opinions as there are writers. Sophy Burnham sets out to show how varied, and sometimes how violent, the work can be.

This is a non-fiction collection of thoughts from some of the greatest writers, with Burnham's own observations and experiences of a writer's life woven between them. Her focus is the emotional side of the craft: what writing demands of the people who do it and what it takes out of them.

Burnham follows the stages a writer passes through. She covers starting a project too soon, the ecstasy when the words are flowing, and the crash that can come after that high. She also covers how to recover and carry on working.

Anecdotes about famous authors run through the pages. Zola kept a motto in his workroom: No day without lines. Agatha Christie plotted her books in the bathtub while eating apples. When a dinner guest noticed a strange look on James Thurber's face, his wife answered, Don't be concerned. He's only writing.

It suits working writers and aspiring ones who want company in their struggles. The tone is reassuring and encouraging, and the message is that no writer faces the page alone.