Breathing the Page
Reading the Act of Writing
by Betsy Warland
ISBN: 9781770867031
Size: 5." x 7.5"
Format: Trade Paperback
Subjects:
SEL009000 SELF-HELP / Creativity
LAN005000 LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Composition & Creative Writing
Second Edition
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Price: $24.95
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Publication Date: November 4, 2023
Synopsis:
A written work is more than just letters on a page — it is a complex web of relationships. Some, like the relationship between words and phrases, or story and plot, are obvious. Others, such as the way writers interact with their physical tools, or how storytellers convey meaning to an audience, are less apparent. But to write well, one must recognize, understand, and be guided by all of these relationships.
In Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing, Betsy Warland takes the reader on her quest to articulate the powerful forces beneath the language of craft. In this collection of essays, Warland reveals that it is the manner in which we encounter these forces that makes, or breaks, every piece of writing. Her topics range from the environment one chooses to write in, to the tools on which we depend, to the way we subconsciously structure our anecdotes. A holistic guide for all those passionately involved in the production and flourishing of our literature, Warland’s essays have invigorated writers and readers alike.
In this second edition, Warland continues her quest to investigate the relationships between the writer, the reader, the tools of writing craft, and the unpredictable vibrancy of the narrative. Through nine new essays, she draws awareness to the specific narrative templates we inherit as we grow up and provides strategies for navigating these templates when we meet resistance, contradiction, failure, and lack.
Praise for the First Edition
“Offers practical advice and, at times, breathless insight.”
— National Post
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“Breathing the Page tells how to reframe a tenacious problem with writing, break out of the kinds of self-induced creative comas storytellers fall into, introduce a beginning writer to the rigours of the writing life, or like a rosary or string of prayer beads, inspire and refocus a burned-out mind.”
— The Globe and Mail
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“An extraordinary meditation on the experience of writing with insight on every page into the material, spiritual, emotional, and psychological conditions of writers; the fact that this book is not widely available in the United States lessens our intellectual and creative lives as writers and readers.”
— Lambda Literary
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“Breathing the Page is more than a writer’s manual. It is a collection of meditations, philosophies through which we can live our lives, where we can embody with courage and passion those moments that seem impossible to capture.”
— Natalie Virginia Lang, The British Columbia Review