Write Away
By Elizabeth George

     “Here’s what I tell my students on the first day when I teach one of my creative writing courses: You will be published if you possess three qualities –talent, passion, and discipline.”

      George has much to say about the job of writing and how she masters it. Basically, Write Away is about Elizabeth George, the writer. Her chapters address the same subjects on the craft as other writing books, but the emphasis is on her writing style and beliefs.

      She starts off by telling us she believes the fundamentals of fiction can be taught. Although writing can be taught, art, passion and discipline cannot. The lessons begin with an overview of “the craft.” George’s teachings cover characters, settings, landscape and plotting. She then moves to “The Basics,” which are plotting, moving on from an idea, decisions, viewpoint, voice, dialogue, the scene, and wrapping up the loose ends about the craft, such as suspense. Part four is about the process, and part five offers “Examples and Guides.” Like other writing books, George includes writing examples by famous authors, as well as many from her books.

      Like Stephen King’s On Writing, which was praised as a memoir with writing lesson, George’s Write Away has its place on bookstore shelves as a how-to book. Write Away is good, but it isn’t in the same league as the more popular writing books, such as On Writing Well. That isn’t a bad thing, because there are things novice writers can glean from writing books by popular authors like George and King. What I like most about them is that they appeal to those who would most likely never attempt to write, but do because they picked a book on writing by their favorite author.