“I wrote six unpublished novels between 1970 and 1972 before my debut novel, Faith and the Good Thing,” writes National Book Award-winning author Charles Johnson in this book of craft essays on the life and practice of writing. The novelist, philosopher, essayist, screenwriter, professor, and cartoonist shares personal stories and experiences gathered over decades of writing and teaching creative writing at the University of Washington in Seattle. Across six sections that move through the writing process to the writing life, Johnson offers utilitarian approaches to understanding dialogue, plot, and storytelling, and shares writing exercises from his classroom that help with word choice, sentence structure, and narrative voice, as well as lessons on being a writer in the world. The book serves as a guide for writers and offers a glimpse into the probing mind of a groundbreaking writer and scholar, inspiring readers to pick up the pen and tell their own stories.
