Never Say You Can't Survive (Charlie Jane Anders)

Never Say You Can't Survive
Charlie Jane Anders
Tordotcom
Nonfiction, Essays/Memoirs/Writing
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: These are trying times, no doubt about it. For many, the very foundations of our reality and the most basic things we have taken for granted have been snatched away, twisted beyond recognition or just plain smashed to pieces. It's tempting to just give up, to decide that there's no point in even trying to do something so seemingly frivolous as write or create. That, argues author Charlie Jane Anders, is precisely what one shouldn't do. This collection of essays covers a range of topics, from basic writing advice to using despair and anger to fuel creativity to understanding that creating escapes from reality and visions of other possible worlds is anything but a waste of time, even in times like these.

REVIEW: I've only read a few of Anders's works; while I like the ideas she explores, I find the stories themselves a bit hit-and-miss for my tastes. That said, I rather enjoyed this collection of essays about keeping the will to write alive even when so much is going so very, very wrong in the world. The writing advice itself is not altogether different from stuff I've picked up elsewhere, if delivered with solid style. The rest, particularly on perseverance though trying and dangerous times and learning to value one's own creativity even when the world at large diminishes it, is fresh and timely and well written (or spoken, as I listened to the audiobook version).

You Might Also Enjoy:
The Art of War for Writers (James Scott Bell) - My Review
Write Good or Die (Scott Nicholson, editor) - My Review
Wonderbook (Jeff Vandermeer) - My Review