New York Times bestselling author and poet Maggie Smith distills creativity and the craft of writing with a practical guide perfect for fans of Elizabeth Gilbert’sBig Magicand Anne Lamott’sBird by Bird.
Drawing from her twenty years of teaching experience and her bestselling Substack newsletter, For Dear Life, Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Each element is explored through short, inspiring, and craft-focused essays, followed by generative writing prompts. Dear Writer provides tools that artists of all experience levels can apply to their own creative practices and carry with them into all genres and all areas of life.
About the Author
Maggie Smith is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of nine books of poetry and prose, including A Suit or a Suitcase, You Could Make This Place Beautiful, Good Bones, Goldenrod,Keep Moving, and My Thoughts Have Wings. A 2011 recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Smith has also received a Pushcart Prize, and numerous grants and awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She has been widely published, appearing in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Nation, TheNew York Times, TheAtlantic, The Best American Poetry, and more. You can find her on social media @MaggieSmithPoet.
Praise For…
"In her winsome, practical Dear Writer, poet and memoirist Maggie Smith shares reflections on the elements of creativity, plus useful tools and prompts for artistic practice. Smith's approach is both playful and serious: she is committed to writing with clarity, honesty, and grace. But she's also a student of delight, of 'artistic mischief' and experimentation. Dear Writer urges readers to take the creative process seriously but treat their own work lightly--and to relish wordplay and shenanigans, pause when a fleeting 'beauty emergency' arises, and notice moments of humor and joy. The creative life, Smith says, is full of gifts to acknowledge and celebrate, and Dear Writer is a joyous, wise companion for the journey." —Shelf Awareness
“Like some seminal texts for writers by writers (Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, Virginia Woolf's A Letter to a Young Poet), this is at once pure craftmanship and a glimpse of the gut-wrenching, visceral ways great writers feel the world around them. A lovely invitation into Smith's processes that is luminous and shimmering, designed to make writing feel accessible yet magical!” —Library Journal (starred review)
"Oh, how I wish I'd had access to this book thirty-five years ago, when I was just starting out as a writer! Maggie Smith has created an offering here of great substance and generosity—walking writers of all ages (and of all levels) through the sometimes wild and terrifying landscape of literary endeavor. With encouraging words, stories from her own life, and—best of all—exercises that are actually helpful, she lends a hand to all. I admire this book, and its author, with all my heart." —Elizabeth Gilbert, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic
