Craft in the Real World

Why did I pick up a book about craft and writing? I have no idea. I just saw it being mentioned on social media 2 days and remembered that many POC authors talked a lot about the advice in this book earlier in the year when it released. And even for someone like me who doesn't have much of an idea about what craft entails or what writing workshops comprise of, I thought this book was quite accessible to me. I especially loved the first half of the book a lot because the author talks about how writing cannot be separated from the real world context, and how teaching craft aimed at a generalized normative audience does injustice to the marginalized writers whose ideas and stories might fall outside of what is accepted tradition. I love reviewing books but I am not a fan of note taking, so it was quite a surprise that I spent most of the first half of the book taking extensive notes. The second part of the book is more about the different ways writing workshops can be conducted, so I wasn't the intended audience, but I still liked the ideas presented. Overall, this felt very informative and almost like a look into how author's create the stories that we get to enjoy. So, maybe understanding some of the advice here might change the way I consume and analyse the books I read from now on. If you are an aspiring author, especially a BIPOC author, then I think this will be particularly interesting for you.