Get Free Ebook Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, by John McPhee
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Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, by John McPhee
Get Free Ebook Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, by John McPhee
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Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of September 2017: One of the great joys of being a book nerd is the rare offer from an accomplished writer to peer inside their head, to probe the process that makes their work, well, work. The best examples (Stephen King’s On Writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, etc.) go beyond the nuts and bolts of prose – how to tell a story in three acts, e.g. – to talk about how they view their craft, however idiosyncratic or replicable. Draft No. 4 falls squarely into this category. With this collection of eight essays, McPhee – the author of Coming into the Country, Encounters with the Archdruid, and countless other celebrated works of longform nonfiction – shares his experiences as a working writer, recalling the methods, tools (mental and otherwise), and relationships that helped him produce some of his most memorable books and articles. It’s less of a how-to than a this-is-how-I-did-it approach, offering plenty of astonishment and inspiration for aspiring writers (and just plain readers), if not easy solutions. An deft blend of art and memoir, Draft No. 4 might seem like the entertaining, amiable reminiscences of a favorite uncle, if it wasn’t also so informative and insightful. --Jon Foro, Amazon Book Review
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Review
John McPhee is the recipient of the 2017 Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award"Followers of John McPhee, perhaps the most revered nonfiction narrative journalist of our time, will luxuriate in the ship-shape prose of "Draft No. 4" . . . Delightful . . . Interspersed with observations every writer should remember . . . The last three chapters will be assigned and reassigned by grateful writing teachers . . . I savored every word"―Corby Kummer, New York Times Book Review"[Draft No. 4]'s combination of shop talk, war stories, slices of autobiography, and priceless insights and lessons suggests what it must be like to occupy a seat in the McPhee classroom . . . McPhee's observations about writing are always invigorating to engage with. And Draft No. 4 belongs on the short shelf of essential books about the craft." ―Ben Yagoda, The Wall Street Journal"A sunny tribute to the gloomy side of the writing life . . . It's McPhee on McPhee; commentary on his greatest hits, a little backstory, a little affectionate gossip . . . His advice is in the service of making the text as sturdy, useful and beautiful as possible. It's an intimate book―and intimacy is rare in McPhee's work . . . For most of his career, McPhee has written reverently about . . . methodical, somewhat solitary men (mostly) who work with their hands and take quiet pride in their work." ―Parul Sehgal, The New York Times"A book that any writer, aspiring or accomplished, could profitably read, study and argue with . . . For over half a century, John McPhee―now 86―has been writing profiles of scientists, eccentrics and specialists of every stripe. All are exceptional at what they do. So, too, is their discerning chronicler." ―Michael Dirda, The Washington Post"Draft No. 4 is as lean and punchy a book as anything McPhee wrote in his thirties . . . The book's ostensible focus of imparting the wisdom accumulated over a lifetime of writing blurs often and very enjoyably with reminiscences about McPhee's own long apprenticeship in the craft . . . The star attraction here isn't the method but the man; readers who go in knowing that will be endlessly fascinated―and may learn a good deal." ―Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor "The beauty of Draft No. 4 lies partly in our watching a master deconstruct the nearly invisible habits of his work. The result celebrates a life―probing, colorful, singular―devoted to writing." ―Joan Silverman, Portland Press Herald"Reading [these essays] consecutively in one volume constitutes a master class in writing, as the author clearly demonstrates why he has taught so successfully part-time for decades at Princeton University. . . . Almost every sentence sparkles, with wordplay evident throughout. . . . Readers already familiar with the author's masterpieces . . . will feel especially fulfilled by McPhee's discussions of the specifics from his many books. . . . A superb book about doing his job by a master of his craft." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"[Draft No. 4 is] not a general how-to-do-it manual but a personal how-I-did-it of richer depth―not bouillon cubes, but rich stock . . . McPhee lays it all out with the wit of one who believes that 'writing has to be fun at least once in a pale blue moon.'" ―Publishers Weekly "McPhee has set the standard for the genre of creative nonfiction . . . With humor and aplomb, he recalls anecdotes about how he approached a story: from interviewing and reporting to drafting and revising, to working with editors and publishers . . . [Draft No. 4 is] a well-wrought road map to navigating the twists and turns, thrills and pitfalls, and joys and sorrows of the writer's journey." ―Donna Marie Smith, Library Journal "Eight crisply instructive and drolly self-deprecating essays [are] gathered here in this exceptionally entertaining and illuminating book . . . [Draft No. 4] is expert, charming, and invigorating." ―Donna Seaman, Booklist"McPhee taught us to revere language, to care about every word, and to abjure the loose synonym . . . Perhaps there are writers out there who make it look easy, but that is not the example set by McPhee. He is of the school of thought that says a writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for other people. Some people joke about lashing themselves to the chair to get a piece of writing done, but McPhee actually has done it, with the belt of his bathrobe . . . I doubt many of us ever took a class that resonated so profoundly over the years." ―Joel Achenbach, Princeton Alumni Weekly"In college, I took a twelve-week writing course with McPhee at Princeton. I received a ‘P’―for ‘Pass.’ This was a mercy. McPhee has been teaching the course, so far as I know, since the Silurian Period. More than half of his former students have gone on to work at various magazines and newspapers, to write books. Actually, only a small percentage of McPhee’s students studied with him at Princeton; he has been for dozens and dozens of nonfiction writers what Robert Lowell used to be for poets and poet wannabes of a certain age: the model." ―David Remnick"McPhee’s sentences are born of patience and attention: he seems to possess a pair of eyes with the swivel, zoom and reach of a peregrine falcon’s, and a pair of ears with the recording ability of a dictaphone. He notices almost everything." ―Robert Macfarlane, The Guardian
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Product details
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition (September 5, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374142742
ISBN-13: 978-0374142742
Product Dimensions:
5.8 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars
110 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#10,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
As a High School student in Casper, Wyoming, 65 years ago, I had to write some essays which included drawing up a formal outline first and then letting the outline direct the writing process. I never could do that. I had to write first and then write the outline last. I got John McPhee's book "Draft No. 4. WOW, he talks about how to organize your work. His method is far superior to any that I have seen. This is the advice from the best writer and is what I should have been doing all along. The whole book is aimed at making writing easy and fun. The book is superb, but has ONE MAJOR FLAW. This book is 65 years too late.Don't tell McPhee this, but I am writing a SPEECH using his writing book as guidance. It makes the creative process fun.
This is a superbly written guide to writing creative non-fiction. It is also an entertaining memoir of McPhee's writing life, especially for The New Yorker magazine. Their are eight chapters, each formerly published in The New Yorker, on topics like Structure, Frame of Reference, and Omission, Many of these contain useful technical advice about writing creative non-fiction. All eight chapters contain interesting, and often humorous, personal anecdotes and observations. He even offers a little encouragement to writers trying to write.The book is 192 pages long and I wish it had been twice as long just so that I could have lingered in McPhee's enjoyable company. Fortunately he has published many other books that I will start re-reading now. Highly Recommended!
If you want to learn about a subject and how to master it, why not learn from someone at the top of their profession? John McPhee is a professor of journalism at Princeton, writes for The New Yorker and has published thirty books. As a guide to the writing process I found Draft No. 4 to be insightful, illuminating (without being pedantic) and helpful. McPhee’s writes with humility and humor without getting up on a high horse. I have written two non-fiction books and am looking to write more and his book has motivated me to pursue my projects with more vigor. I thought as a new writer that I was in a minority being overcome with self-doubt. McPhee explains that (in his view) real writers are those that doubt themselves and are often discouraged and in a state of despair. He points out that if you lack confidence and struggle with writing that you must be a real writer, and conversely if you describe yourself as someone who “loves to write,†that you are probably delusional. I’m not sure if he intended this to be humorous or not but I found it to ring true, (although I both love to write and struggle.)The subtitle of the book reflects the contents more accurately, “On the Writing Process,†although Draft No. 4 is catchier and refers to his suggested ratio of writing to editing, that is, his advice to get something down on paper and then keep editing. He states that he has a finished product after his fourth draft, although I normally do quite a few more revisions. In spots the book has a little bit of an inside baseball feel, although delightfully so if you love the written word, as he gives insights into what makes The New Yorker such an esteemed publication and the neverending tussle between a writer and copy editor.For me, the lasting parts of the book are the truisms that he identifies: even though you may write for only 2-3 hours a day, your mind is working 24 hours a day: while you are sleeping, driving, and puttering around your subconscious mind is looking for words or phrases to help your prose. Also, how he highlights or brackets words that aren’t exactly right and then goes back during editing and searches for more perfect words and for clarity. As he says, “. . . there is elegance in the less ambiguous way.†Draft No. 4 takes its place on my bookshelf next to my dictionary, Strunk & White, the Chicago Manual of Style and a thesaurus.Writing is a solitary and often lonely process and McPhee lets you know that you’ve got company. His book feels borderline illicit, like he is taking some of the mystery out of the writing process and he (thankfully) lets you in on some of the secrets. I wish it were longer than 192 pages, I could have devoured more.
John McPhee has been writing, and teaching writing, for decades. He ranks among the most capable and experienced writers in the world and richly deserves all the accolades heaped upon him. He also, in my experience, ranks among those rare and cherished correspondents who squeaks when squoken to: write to him, rationally, and this busy man answers, kindly.His new book, the most recent of more than thirty, is a primer on writing well, based significantly on the writing course he has been teaching at Princeton for many years. It includes scores of fascinating and insightful anecdotes based on his brave globe-trotting work in writing his signature long nonfiction, comprising articles (some for Time, mostly for The New Yorker) that were turned into books because of their length. He divides the work into logical sections and only his treatment of editing and final assembly, in this era of modern word processing, strikes a discordant note: 1980s technology has been far transcended in speed, cost and convenience.He delves deeply into the thorny fact-checking issue and here he scores brilliantly. The New Yorker devotes intense effort in this vital area. But McPhee fails the reader in one significant area of publication, which he claims undertakes scrupulous fact checking: The Atlantic. I can be quite specific. The Atlantic published a scathing review by the late Christopher Hitchens of Lord Jenkins’ biography of Winston Churchill. Hitchens, not always encumbered by facts, claimed, among other things, that Germany had no intention of invading England in the late 1930s and early 1940s. In fact (“fact checkingâ€) Hitler had created and funded Operation Sea Lion for just this purpose, and photoreconnaissance by British PRU (Photo Reconnaissance Unit) Spitfires showed more than 1,500 invasion vessels in the ports of Northern France. The Atlantic, advised of this gross factual error, did not deign even to reply, though the facts were available in scores of reliable places. You want to believe them today?The polished elegance of McPhee’s prose results from meticulous attention to detail, down to the simplest individual word usage. Just the process of reading this book will give any writer the true sense of verbal mastery, clarity of expression and the essential need to examine every word we write. McPhee is the eternal master and we are all his students.
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