A Long Game - by Elizabeth McCracken (Paperback)

About the Book

"From bestselling and award-winning author and professor Elizabeth McCracken comes an irresistible look at the art of writing. Writing can feel like an endless series of decisions. How does one face the blank page? Move a character around a room? Deal with time? Undertake revision? The good and bad news is that in fiction writing, there are no definitive answers to such questions: writers must come up with their own. Elizabeth McCracken, author of bestselling novels, National Book Award long-listed story collections, and a highly praised memoir, has been teaching for more than thirty-five years, guiding her many students through their own answers. In A Long Game, she shares insights gleaned along the way, offering practical tips and incisive thoughts about her own work as an artist. "Writing is a long game," she notes. "What matters is that you learn to get work done in the way that is possible for you, through consistency or panic. Through self-recrimination or self-forgiveness: every life needs both." As much a book about the life of a working artist as it is a guide to thinking about fiction, A Long Game is a revelatory and indispensable resource for any writer"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From bestselling and award-winning author and professor Elizabeth McCracken comes an irresistible look at the art of writing.

Writing can feel like an endless series of decisions. How does one face the blank page? Move a character around a room? Deal with time? Undertake revision? The good and bad news is that in fiction writing, there are no definitive answers to such questions: writers must come up with their own. Elizabeth McCracken, author of bestselling novels, National Book Award long-listed story collections, and a highly praised memoir, has been teaching for more than thirty-five years, guiding her many students through their own answers.

In A Long Game, she shares insights gleaned along the way, offering practical tips and incisive thoughts about her own work as an artist. The book covers:

• Understanding and developing characters
• Plot, and what to do if it eludes you
• Her thoughts on common writing "rules"
• And of course, the Butter Cow Lady of the Iowa State Fair and her work as it relates to revision

Writing "is a long game," she notes. "What matters is that you learn to get work done in the way that is possible for you, through consistency or panic. Through self-recrimination or self-delusion or self-forgiveness: every life needs all three."

As much a book about the life of a working artist as it is a guide to thinking about fiction, A Long Game is a revelatory and indispensable resource for any writer.

Review Quotes

"There are so many people on your holiday list who want to be writers. And this book is wonderfully different. It's a lot edgier than most books about how to write. It's very truthful. And I find that almost any time there is a terrific debut author, a novel that I really love, Elizabeth McCracken has been that person's teacher. And she has wonderful, wonderful tough love, direct, and very funny advice on how to be the writer you want to be." - Ann Patchett, PBS News Hour

"The Story Prize-winning McCracken knows a lot about writing fiction, but think of her new title less as a craft book and more as a guidebook for first-time tourists and seasoned travelers alike. The author reminds us all that 'no process is wrong that leads to the first draft of a book." Or, as McCracken once said of bowling: "I like the fact that it's difficult, impossible to perfect, but people are really devoted to it.' This volume is all strikes, no spares." - Los Angeles Times

"McCracken, as I hope you know, is one of our very best writers; I have read literally everything she has published. . . . There is nothing in this book that you can ignore, if you have ambitions to create a work of fiction." - Nick Hornby, The Believer

"Thoughtful, encouraging insights from her own experiences writing as well as her experiences reading and responding to years of student writing. . . . There are also very practical discussions of specific elements of fiction: structure, characterization, and various ways to think about plot." - The Clarion-Ledger

"What McCracken offers in A Long Game is something better than advice: She gives permission. This is a canny approach if you're peeking at the market: Every writer, from a high schooler with a notion to tell a story to a veteran novelist in the middle of a messy draft, needs a voice from somewhere telling them that they're pursuing something difficult but possible. So A Long Game is fit for students of Comp 101 classes and MFA programs, but also weekend hobbyists. But it works because her brand of inspiration isn't cheap uplift, just clear reports from the trenches about the sorts of things that can waylay a writer, both on the page and in life." - Alta

"The novelist and writing tutor delivers bracing advice that demolishes familiar 'stick to what you know' nostrums. . . . She's determined to liven things up. . . . We know from her big entrance - sentence one, page one - that McCracken, novelist, memoirist and former tutor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, is going to cause more than a few cocktails to be spat out or spilled.... She's not your usual wise old literary hand. Instead, she is naughty, perverse, quietly exhibitionist and bracingly unashamed. . . . If you are being poisoned by a particularly cliched piece of workshop feedback, 'Show, don't tell' or 'Write what you know, ' McCracken will supply an antidote." - The Guardian

"Infused with the author's signature humility, humanity, and humor, A Long Game is a guide not only to the craft of writing fiction, but also to the art of living as a working writer." - Poets and Writers

"Don't be fooled: Ostensibly a book about writing, McCracken instead provides fortunate readers with a deep, idiosyncratic and hilarious-on-every-page meditation on the work of fiction, the love of reading and the life of a human trying to make stuff. It's a lovely, generous work, perfect for anyone who loves books or enjoys laughing a lot." - Orange County Register

"McCracken's deep empathy for others is evident on every page. As much a book of philosophy as a treatise on writing, this work could even bear the subtitle Notes on Life. . . . A charming book that will have great appeal not only for aspiring writers but for all lovers of fiction and anyone interested in the complicated art of being human." - Library Journal (starred)

"[A Long Game] reveals why [McCracken's] approach to teaching writing is to help each student discover and develop the magic of his or her imagination." - California Review of Books

"McCracken . . . include[s] all sorts of gems of wisdom. . . For anyone who wants to write a novel, or for anyone who loves reading novels. . . . A Long Game is a joy." - Sunday Times (UK)

"A gem. . . makes an ideal gift for all readers (and secret writers). . . funny, insightful, instructive." - Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"A witty, generous guide." - Kirkus

"What, then, is A Long Game? For one, it's a welcome chance to spend time with McCracken's mind, which you can feel stretching with pleasure throughout. She has written some of the funniest and most sensitively observed books I've ever read. . . . [A] lovely and energizing book." - Observer (UK)

"Not as much a how-to book as some essential Real Talk, A Long Game is the perfect craft book for people who don't entirely trust craft books, written by one of my favorite writers of fiction ever." - Maris Kreizman, The Maris Review

"Elizabeth McCracken is that rarest of combinations--a world-class writer and a world-class writing teacher. With A Long Game she has distilled the electric, inspiring genius, enthusiasm, and wit that she has brought to the classroom for more than three decades and put it into a book that's practically a master's program in itself." - Paul Harding, author of This Other Eden

"Elizabeth McCracken, one of the greatest, wisest, funniest, and most humane writers you will ever encounter, has written one of the greatest, wisest, funniest, and most humane books about writing you will ever read. Have a pen ready. You'll want to underline sentences on every page that make you stop and think or inwardly cheer or nod in recognition. Most important, you'll want to run to your desk and write. A Long Game is an absolute gift." - Cristina Henríquez, author of The Great Divide

"Elizabeth McCracken was my teacher, and it's a joy to know that now more people will have access to her brilliance through A Long Game. The book is intellectually rigorous with its philosophical and artistic deliberations on the art of fiction writing, and it is also full of tender humor, understanding, and respect for writers at any stage of their careers. It's a treasure box for any teacher of creative writing, a guidebook for any fiction writer, and a problem- solving and cheering companion that makes writing a less lonely business." - Yiyun Li, author of Things in Nature Merely Grow

"McCracken's love of teaching is palpable throughout the book . . . A Long Game is a must-read as much for its heart and humor as for its guidance." - The National Book Review

"On the one hand, as a superfan of Elizabeth McCracken, I am cranky that others will benefit from her wisdom. On the other hand, any excuse to spend time with McCracken's intelligent and unpretentious voice is a gift. This is not just an indispensable craft book but a writer's argument with herself about what, in fact, constitutes craft." - Karan Mahajan, author of The Association of Small Bombs

"A Long Game: Notes on Writing Fiction is a deeply practical book that is also beautifully written, that is also somehow a page-turner. It is, like McCracken's fiction, a crystalline distillation of her warm, funny, and no-nonsense voice. When I finished reading it, I couldn't decide if what I wanted to do immediately was write fiction or just turn back to page one and read it again." - Asali Solomon, author of The Days of Afrekete

"A Long Game is the most generous, idiosyncratic, useful, and companionable book on writing I've ever read. It's basically a portable Elizabeth McCracken. How did we get so lucky?" - Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth