Author(s): Carmel Bird

Writing

So, you want to be a writer...First published in 1988, "Dear Writer" is Carmel Bird's classic on fiction writing, now revised and expanded for this Vintage edition. Written as a series of letters from Virginia O'Day, proprietor of the O'Day Manuscript Assessment Service, to Writer, author of the short story "The Scream at Midnight", "Dear Writer" covers everything the novice writer needs to know. Areas covered include: dealing with writer's block; the role of the imagination; where ideas come from; the rhythms of prose; use of adjectives and adverbs; overstatement and understatement; keeping journals and diaries; points to check when revising a manuscript; pens, typewriters and word processors; and, preparing and submitting a manuscript. This is a book to inspire as well as instruct as it takes the reader is through the processes of writing fiction. It is also an illuminating insight into the writer's craft. This edition is revised and expanded and includes two new appendices: the first explores the motivations of the fiction writer, and the second describes Carmel's personal experience of the creative process through the writing (and rewriting) of the short story 'The Golden Moment'. Carmel Bird has written four books of fiction, and a further writers' guide, specifically for novelists, "Not Now Jack - I'm Writing a Novel", which did well for Picador. Her latest novel, "The White Garden", published by University of Queensland Press, has received rave reviews. Random House will be re-publishing one of her best-known books of fiction, "The Bluebird Cafe", in August, and will be launching her new book, a dazzling blend of fiction and non-fiction entitled "Automatic Teller Machine", in October. Carmel has taught fiction writing for many years. Born in Tasmania, she now lives in Melbourne.