8 | The Writer • March 2020
BOOKISH
Two new craft books to read this
month, plus a look at brand-new writing
titles forthcoming this spring.
Set the Page on Fire
By Steve O’Keefe
“When you set
the page on fire,
your writing takes
off. Your readers
catch fire, too, and
keep reading as
long as you burn,”
writes author
Steve O’Keefe in
the introduction to
Set the Page on Fire: Secrets of Suc-
cessful Writers. “This book will show
you how to ignite a bonfire of writing
and keep feeding it.”
“Once you set the page on fire, the
right words erupt effortlessly, like fire-
works,” O’Keefe continues, promising
that “even grocery lists [will] start show-
ing literary merit.”
O’Keefe interviewed 250 authors
and industry professionals for the
book, which is also drawn from
O’Keefe’s own personal experience as
an author, freelance writer, and content
marketing director.
The book opens with a chapter on
the “Top 10 Secrets of Successful Writ-
ers” (No. 10: “Writing is discovery, not
capture: It’s something you kindle, not
something you freeze”). Other chapters
include “Making Time to Write,” “The
Four-Part Pitch,” and “Seeking Commer-
cial Publication.” Littered throughout the
book are hands-on exercises that illus-
trate the principles and suggestions
outlined in each chapter.
Jeff Herman, literary agent and
author of Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book
Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents,
calls it “a very well-composed work
about writing. I am happy to say that,
based on its merits alone, Set the Page
on Fire is a book that all writers should
read and reread.”Wild Words
By Nicole GulottaIt can take years
to develop a solid
writing routine.
Perhaps we find
we can only write
at the crack of
dawn, or in the
dark of night, or in
the hum of a local
cafe; perhaps we finally realize we need
a home office with few distractions to
hit our daily word count. But when we
face a major life change – when we take
a new job, start a longer commute, take
on a caregiving role, or have children –
all our carefully developed routines can
go right out the window.
What’s a writer to do when our two-
hour writing window becomes a two-
minute one? How can we cope when
our creativity seems to run dry and our
doubts run rampant?
Instead of focusing on how your new
creative life differs from the last,
embrace the writing season you’re in,
suggests Nicole Gulotta in Wild Words:
Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for
Braving the Writer’s Path.
“I’m convinced embracing a seasonal
approach to your creativity can change
everything, because it roots you to your
own innate rhythms in a way our social
media-fueled, busy-as-a-badge-of-honor
culture does not,” she writes. “I find nur-
turing a sustainable writing practice is a
gentler way to honor the year of work it
takes to create almost anything worth-
while. Although it doesn’t always elimi-
nate moments of doubt, days of
distractions, or challenges brought on by
unforeseen causes, it does give our
experiences a name. We can point to it.
There, I see you, we say. Let’s work
through this together.”Each chapter in Wild Words covers a
different season, from “The Season of
Beginnings” and “The Season of Self-
Doubt” to “The Season of Retreating”
and “The Season of Finishing.” Gulotta
pairs her own experiences with guides
and exercises for the reader called
“Rituals and Routines.” Topics range
from juggling writing with parenting
young children and learning to seize
small bits of time for writing to prepar-
ing for author events and designing a
DIY writing retreat.NEW CRAFT BOOKS:
SPRING 2020 PREVIEWThe Author’s Checklist: An
Agent’s Guide to Developing
and Editing Your Manuscript
By Elizabeth K. Kracht
(February 4)Literary agent Elizabeth K.
Kracht lists the most common
pitfalls that plague manuscripts
along with solutions for how
writers can overcome them.Every Day I Write the Book:
Notes on Style
By Amitava Kumar (March 27)Billed as the On Writing for aca-
demic writers, Amitava Kumar’s
forthcoming how-to book on
scholarly writing is aimed at both
students and professionals.Mastering the Process: From
Idea to Novel
By Elizabeth George (April 7)Elizabeth George – author of
24 novels – takes writers
“behind the scenes” on the
writing process for her novel
Careless in Red.