Rules of Thumb: 71 Authors Reveal Their Fiction Writing Fixations

I'm a little disturbed by the previous post. As a writer, I find it absurd that I must be a drunk, wracked with insecurities, or tortured by my religious quest in order to write affecting fiction. This is an old ideal perpetuated by people who romanticize the writing life, most of whom have never lived it. The point of the book is to offer small meditations on writing and the ACT of writing. I found most of them to be insightful and inspiring. There are plenty of books on how writers abuse and torture themselves. Trust me--plenty of 16 year-old aspiring writers read them and then think that is how they must live in order to write "true" fiction. It's ok to be average (not that I think most of the contributers are) and a writer. And just because you are average, doesn't mean you will write average fiction. It's a beautiful book. Buy it.

I love this book, which I happened upon at Barnes & Noble. The feel and aesthetics drew me to it, and the font and layout won me over. Like so many of these types of books for and by writers, I figured there was a likelihood that much of the writing inside would be of dubious quality or real merit, and contributed by the workshop people that give that stereotype its oomph. Instead, 98% of the writings are intelligent, interesting, and with unique voice. And there are a handful--maybe 9 or 10--that connect personally to me in a way of such value that I sort of hugged the book in recognition and gratefulness. I love this book and find it unique in its genre, standing head and shoulders above most others in quality, merit, intelligence, and humor.