Overview

Elizabeth Berg touches women's lives with heartbreakingly funny and true novels -- including the New York Times bestseller Talk Before Sleep -- that distinctly capture the essence of their lives. Now this critically acclaimed author and writing instructor offers an inspiring, practical handbook on the joys, challenges, and creative possibilities inherent in the writing life. Both autobiography and primer, Escaping into the Open interweaves Elizabeth Berg's story of her own journey from working mother to published novelist with encouraging advice on how to create stories that spring from deep within the heart. With wit and honesty, Elizabeth Berg provides numerous exercises that will unleash individual creativity and access and utilize all of the 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.

Full Product Details

9780060929299

Table of Contents

Reviews

Crystal clear, bracing as icewater, Escaping into the Open should be read by all scribblers regardless of material success. -- Rita Mae Brown 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 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 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 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 While this book will make its way into classrooms across the country, its biggest classroom is the invisible one: someone sitting at a desk or a kitchen table trying to write but not knowing how. Elizabeth Berg's book is as close as you can get to having someone sitting right there with you, giving you quietly wonderful tips. -- Alexandra Johnson author of The Hidden Writer: Diaries and The Creative Life All the qualities that I have loved in [Elizabeth Berg's] fiction are here in great,generous dollops: intimacy, honesty and humor, and that feeling that you are hanging out with your best friend who is confiding amazing stories to you. I would recommend this book to anyone in the grip of the writing muse. -- Stephanie von Hirschberg, former editor and literary agent This is a really good book about how to write. Berg is completely charming and no-nonsense; she believes you can do it, and at the end, you do, too. She tells you how to get started and what to do when stuck; she offers exercises in writing so beguiling that you want to sit right down and try them; she talks about fiction and nonfiction, writing classes, and writing groups. She lets writing teachers, editors, and agents say their part in their own voices, with the same limpid clarity she employs throughout. Berg is speaking directly to people who need to write, and she hands them the tools to do so as simply as handing a pot of tea across the table. Above all, she describes with perfect precision just how it feels when the writing is right: like sitting in the lap of God. Anyone who ever needs to write anything will find bright shards of useful stuff here, like the box of many textured scraps a friend gave Berg labeled touch. -- Booklist, 6/1/99If your dream is to be a Writer with a capital W, we're pleased to recommend Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True, a wonderful new guide by gifted novelist Elizabeth Berg ( Talk Before Sleep, Joy School).Imagine that a bestselling author was available to give you encouragement and practical advice--that's exactly what you'll find here. The key to writing that works, according to Berg, is finding your authentic voice so that you can write from theheart. You'll be inspired by her own story as well as the creative exercises she provides.If you've always wanted to write, but were afraid to get started, Berg will have you at your desk, pen in hand, soon after you finish her first chapter.--The Reader's Edge, Book Revue, Summer 1999

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 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 This is a really good book . . . anyone who ever needs to write anything will find bright shards of useful stuff here. --Booklist Crystal clear, bracing as icewater, Escaping into the Open should be read by all scribblers regardless of material success. -- Rita Mae Brown 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 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 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 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 While this book will make its way into classrooms across the country, its biggest classroom is the invisible one: someone sitting at a desk or a kitchen table trying to write but not knowing how. Elizabeth Berg's book is as close as you can get to having someone sitting right there with you, giving you quietly wonderful tips. -- Alexandra Johnson author of The Hidden Writer: Diaries and The Creative Life All the qualities that I have loved in [Elizabeth Berg's] fiction are here in great,generous dollops: intimacy, honesty and humor, and that feeling that you are hanging out with your best friend who is confiding amazing stories to you. I would recommend this book to anyone in the grip of the writing muse. -- Stephanie von Hirschberg, former editor and literary agent This is a really good book about how to write. Berg is completely charming and no-nonsense; she believes you can do it, and at the end, you do, too. She tells you how to get started and what to do when stuck; she offers exercises in writing so beguiling that you want to sit right down and try them; she talks about fiction and nonfiction, writing classes, and writing groups. She lets writing teachers, editors, and agents say their part in their own voices, with the same limpid clarity she employs throughout. Berg is speaking directly to people who need to write, and she hands them the tools to do so as simply as handing a pot of tea across the table. Above all, she describes with perfect precision just how it feels when the writing is right: like sitting in the lap of God. Anyone who ever needs to write anything will find bright shards of useful stuff here, like the box of many textured scraps a friend gave Berg labeled touch. -- Booklist, 6/1/99If your dream is to be a Writer with a capital W, we're pleased to recommend Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True, a wonderful new guide by gifted novelist Elizabeth Berg ( Talk Before Sleep, Joy School).Imagine that a bestselling author was available to give you encouragement and practical advice--that's exactly what you'll find here. The key to writing that works, according to Berg, is finding your authentic voice so that you can write from theheart. You'll be inspired by her own story as well as the creative exercises she provides.If you've always wanted to write, but were afraid to get started, Berg will have you at your desk, pen in hand, soon after you finish her first chapter.--The Reader's Edge, Book Revue, Summer 1999

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available