Escaping Into the Open - by Elizabeth Berg (Paperback)

About the Book

"Crystal clear, bracing as ice water, Escaping Into the Open should be read by all scribblers regardless of material success."--Rita Mae Brown

"This is a really good book."--Booklist

Bestselling, award-winning novelist Elizabeth Berg knows a thing or two about writing, having graced the world with wonderful works of fiction including Talk Before Sleep, The Year of Pleasures, and the acclaimed Oprah Book Club Selection, Open House. With Escaping Into the Open, she offers an inspiring, eminently entertaining, and delightfully practical handbook on the joys, challenges, and creative possibilities inherent in the writing life. Now revised with new material--a classic in the vein of Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird--Elizabeth Berg's Escaping Into the Open is an indispensable guide for any aspiring storyteller.

Book Synopsis

"Crystal clear, bracing as ice water, Escaping Into the Open should be read by all scribblers regardless of material success." --Rita Mae Brown

Bestselling, award-winning novelist Elizabeth Berg knows a thing or two about writing, having graced the world with wonderful works of fiction including Talk Before Sleep, The Year of Pleasures, and the acclaimed Oprah Book Club Selection, Open House. With Escaping Into the Open, she offers an inspiring, eminently entertaining, and delightfully practical handbook on the joys, challenges, and creative possibilities inherent in the writing life. Now revised with new material--a classic in the vein of Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird--Elizabeth Berg's Escaping Into the Open is an indispensable guide for any aspiring storyteller.

From the Back Cover

Both autobiography and primer, Escaping into the Open is an inspiring, practical handbook on the joys and challenges of the writing life. Renowned author and writing instructor Elizabeth Berg interweaves the story of her own journey from working mother to bestselling novelist with encouraging advice on how to create stories that spring from the heart. Continually in print since its original 1999 publication, this invaluable resource is a true and constant friend to all writers, no matter their stage of development.

With wit and honesty, Berg provides numerous exercises that will unleash individual creativity and utilize all five senses. Most important, she tells how to fire passion--emotion--into writing itself; to break through personal barriers and reach one's own outer limits and beyond.

Review Quotes

"As a writer Elizabeth Berg hit the ground running. Her very helpful advice to would-be authors is the equivalent of a good pair of track shoes. She knows how the publishing industry works, how sentences work, and why writers need to answer only to themselves." -- C. Michael Curtis, senior editor, Atlantic Monthly

"Crystal clear, bracing as icewater, Escaping into the Open should be read by all scribblers regardless of material success." -- Rita Mae Brown

"Elizabeth Berg has shown herself to be an author of astonishing talent. What is even more astonishing is the generosity with which she now shares her insights and wisdom on the process of writing." -- Mary Mitchell, writing instructor, The Adult Learning Center, Framinghams Massachusetts

"Elizabeth Berg's writing exercises are wonderfully inventive. They capture the play and pleasures of writing. Her book is an insightful guide." -- Ronna Wineberg Blaser, president, board of directors, The Tennessee Writers Alliance

"I'm grateful as can be for having Escaping into the Open. It's part of my library now, and I'm recommending it to anyone with the slightest urge to write--it tells it as it is." -- Eileen Herbert Jordan, freelance writer

"This is a really good book . . . anyone who ever needs to write anything will find bright shards of useful stuff here." -- Booklist