Review of : The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner

NOT a how-to-write book but really I think I've read enough of those (though I may read a few more, a guilty pleasure). One of the best books on writing I've read. Lener captures the frantic, fragile, manic pysche of writers perfectly. I feel that the first chapter, called 'The Ambivalent Writer', was written for me. The second section, about the publishing process, was informative and terrifying.

"One day a long time from now, you'll cease to care anymore whom you please o...more NOT a how-to-write book but really I think I've read enough of those (though I may read a few more, a guilty pleasure). One of the best books on writing I've read. Lener captures the frantic, fragile, manic pysche of writers perfectly. I feel that the first chapter, called 'The Ambivalent Writer', was written for me. The second section, about the publishing process, was informative and terrifying.

"One day a long time from now, you'll cease to care anymore whom you please or what anybody has to say about you. That's when you'll finally produce the work you're capable of."
-J.D. Salinger, pg.76

"Rejection along with uncertainty are as much a part of the writer's life as snow and cold are of an Eskimo's: they are conditions one has not only to learn to live with but also learn to make use of...The gifted young writer has to learn that his main task is to persist."
-Ted Solotaroff, pg.18