THE WRITE STUFF

Margo: Have you noticed the avalanche of books coming
out this fall about writing? One of the more clever
among them imagines what a writing workshop led by
Virginia Woolf would look like ("The Virginia Woolf
Writers' Workshop: Seven Lessons to Inspire Great
Writing," by Danell Jones, due out next month from
Bantam). Isn't it ironic that just when we are getting
such dire news about the drop in the number of people
who read that there would be so many books teaching
people to write?

Ellen: Ironic? No, I think it's inevitable! We have
an aging population with stories to tell, and an entire generation of
young people who were raised in an educational system that separated reading
from writing -- a big mistake, it turns out. As educators now realize, the facility for writing grows
out of reading, of gaining vocabulary and a knowledge of syntax by seeing words and sentences in a larger
context.

Margo: Yup, we may soon see a world where everyone
writes a book, but no one is left to read them! At
least Jones' book may lead some people back to books
by Woolf.

Ellen: I'm charmed by "The Virginia Woolf Writers'
Workshop." However, Jones isn't the first to take
cues from the woman who brought us "A Room of One's
Own": On my shelf of writing books sits "Virginia
Woolf: Women and Writing," edited by Michele Barrett
and published in 1979. Of course, Barrett's book is more a collection of Woolf's writing and Jones' is trying to do something different.

Margo: Well, never let it be said that the publishing
world never repeats itself -- but, yes, Jones is trying something unique: She doesn't
just talk about Woolf's ideas about writing. She
actually imagines a workshop setting with Woolf as the
teacher. But if you don't like that, here's another interesting twist on a book about
writing: "Ron Carlson Writes a
Story," just out from Graywolf Press. Carlson, the
author of eight books of fiction and a master of the
short story ("Do yourself a favor and read Ron
Carlson," says Stephen King), gives a blow by blow
account of how he wrote a short story called "The
Governor's Ball" (which, of course, is included at the
end). I can guarantee you that it's far more informative than watching
Robert Owen Butler writing online (yes, Mr. Butler
once actually put a camcorder in his office and
recorded himself at his desk writing). Never let it be said
writers have no ego.