The Elements of Authorship: Unabashed Advice, Undiluted Experience, Unadulterated Inspiration for Writers and Writers-To-Be

By Arthur Plotnik

OK, so, of the 82,000 "employed" authors in the United States, about 50 command seven-figure advances. So what? Who needs to be a millionaire? But for every three Stephen Kings earning $5 million a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 059500119X
• ISBN13: 9780595001194
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Necessary reading

I'm presently re-reading "Honk." I'm a voracious reader & seldom go back to an item, but this is different. Anyone who even THINKS s/he might someday want to be a writer should own a copy of this, & go back to it every month for as long as symptoms persist. It's a sharp & funny description of the woes (so often self-made!) of the writerly spirit, & offers many great simple ideas on how the hopeful writer ought best to avoid getting sidetracked into delusions & paranoia. This was reissued in 2000 as "The Elements of Authorship," & I hope its sales were better. It simply deserves far more recognition than it's gotten, & is referred to in only one other book. The writing is eminently quotable, & the editing is excellent. (I could have done with a less-ghastly cover, though, which only serves to make the book title seem bearable.)