Elizabeth Berg (Talk Before Sleep) is a can-do kid. Forget the common wisdom--that writing is difficult and getting published nearly impossible without contacts or an agent. "What you need most," she says, "is a fierce desire to put things down on paper." And if a gentle nudge will help you on your way, well, Berg wishes to provide just that, cheerfully, with Escaping into the Open. For Berg, writing--and success--comes easily. In fact, she says, "What I like doing best is writing.... I feel like a drug addict with an exceptionally wise drug of choice." It is refreshing to come across a book so positive and friendly--even if a there is a little too much emphasis on the author's own experience (did she really have to include a five-page essay by an envious friend and three pages of topics about which she herself has successfully written?). Still, how could one not appreciate a writing guide that espouses napping, eating chocolate-covered cherries, and standing by your "man(uscript)," and that likens passionate, risky writing--the only kind that's worth anything--to great sex? Berg encourages her reader to look (and listen and feel) deeply, to learn from children, and not to let life interfere with writing any more than it has to. She addresses--sometimes with help from her friends--writing classes, writing groups, and the writing life. In a chapter called "If you're a man, be a woman," she offers up 30 pages of writing exercises. Berg is personable, whimsical, amazed by her good fortune, and direct. "There's only one person who can stop you," she says gravely at book's end, "and we both know who that is." --Jane Steinberg
From Library Journal
July is a busy month for Berg. She's publishing a new novel with Random called Until the Real Thing Comes Along (see Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/99) and also this writer's guide, which explains how she got from working mother to best-selling novelist.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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 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." GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Review
“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
“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
“This is a really good book . . . anyone who ever needs to write anything will find bright shards of useful stuff here.” — Booklist
From the Back Cover
Both autobiography and primer, Escaping into the Open is an inspiring, practical handbook on the joys and challenges of the writing life. Renowned author and writing instructor Elizabeth Berg interweaves the story of her own journey from working mother to bestselling novelist with encouraging advice on how to create stories that spring from the heart. Continually in print since its original 1999 publication, this invaluable resource is a true and constant friend to all writers, no matter their stage of development.
With wit and honesty, Berg provides numerous exercises that will unleash individual creativity and utilize all five 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.
About the Author
Elizabeth Berg's work has won the NEBA Award for fiction and has been included twice on the ALA Best Books of the Year list. Her novel Open House was an Oprah's Book Club pick, and her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and the New York Times Magazine. She lives outside Chicago, Illinois.
