A Writer's Workbook - by Caroline Sharp (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Aspiring doctors have medical school. Karate students have belts of different colors. Pianists have scales and arpeggios. But what system do writers have for getting and staying "in shape," to help them focus, practice, and make progress?

A Writer's Workbook is Caroline Sharp's ingenious collection of exercises to inspire, encourage, warm up, and jump-start anyone who writes. A wise and funny friend who will cheerlead you through even your darkest can't-write days and "every idea I've ever had is awful" nights, she provides encouraging suggestions, hilarious observations, and an amazingly vivid catalogue of writers' neuroses (with advice on overcoming them, of course).

From "Roget's Resume" and "Emulating Ernest" to "End Well," "The Rewrite Rut," and "Dear John," the exercises in this generous, wry workbook will keep your ideas fresh, your mind open, and your pen moving.

Review Quotes

"A Writer's Workbook is the most generous favor to those among us who would write and could write, if only we could get down to work . . . This is a book for students, for professionals, for poets, for playwrights, for journalists and for those of you who don't even dare call yourself writers yet, except the most secret moments of the night." --Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Stern Men, from the Foreword

"Opened-hearted, ardent, and encouraging. A must-have book for students and teachers alike." --Elise Paschen, Executive Director, Poetry Society of America, and author of Infidelities

"With this charming, insightful, and indispensable guide, Caroline Sharp may very well have ended writer's block in our time." --Albert J. Zuckerman, author of Writing the Blockbuster Novel

"A supportive and encouraging book every aspiring writer will find particularly useful." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Caroline Sharp has a degree in psychology from Princeton University, an MFA from Columbia University, and is a graduate of the Writer's Boot Camp. The mother of two, she lives and writes in New York City.