The Writers Practice, John Warner
The Writers Practice, John Warner
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The Writer's Practice
Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing

Author: John Warner

Narrator: Gary Bennett

Unabridged: 5 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/11/2020


Synopsis

For anyone aiming to improve their skill as a writer, a revolutionary new approach to establishing robust writing practices inside and outside the classroom, from the author of Why They Can't Write.

After a decade of teaching writing using the same methods he'd experienced as a student many years before, writer, editor, and educator John Warner realized he could do better. Drawing on his classroom experience and the most persuasive research in contemporary composition studies, he devised an innovative new framework: a step-by-step method that moves the student through a series of writing problems, an organic, bottom-up writing process that exposes and acculturates them to the ways writers work in the world.

The time is right for this new and groundbreaking approach. The most popular books on composition take a formalistic view, utilizing "templates" in order to mimic the sorts of rhetorical moves academics make. While this is a valuable element of a writing education, there is room for something that speaks more broadly. The Writer's Practice invites students and novice writers into an intellectually engaging, active learning process that prepares them for a wider range of academic and real-world writing and allows them to become invested and engaged in their own work.

About John Warner

John Warner has more than twenty years' experience teaching college-level writing, working with a range of students on developmental writing through graduate-level studies. He has taught many different types of writing, from composition, fiction, and narrative nonfiction to technical and humor writing. A contributing writer at Inside Higher Ed, he has become a national voice on writing pedagogy and writes a weekly column on books and reading for the Chicago Tribune. He is the author of five books. An editor-at-large at McSweeney's, he has worked with writers who have gone on to publish in outlets including the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Guardian.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Brigid on March 14, 2019

This is the type of book where you can take what fits and leave what doesn't. I skipped around the text finding pieces here and there that I will use in class. The one I'm using today, Warner's analogy that sentences are to writers as paint is to an artist. They are not primary; "in the absence of t......more

Goodreads review by Monica on November 25, 2023

This has got some really useful sections and assignments for a first year writing class. I especially appreciate the sections on analysis and research, which are always challenging subjects to teach.......more

Goodreads review by Terry on April 18, 2019

A fairly useful compilation of non-fiction writing assignments that Warner offers up, along with his rational and some pointers. His prose is professional but accessible, authoritative without being dry. A good antidote to some other writing guides. Be aware that there are many writing-class issues......more

Goodreads review by John on March 25, 2020

To be honest, I wanted to give this 3.5 stars, but I can never quite figure out how to do half stars. Now, I neither outright loved nor hated this book. It seemed to have great potential, but his approach was a little choppy. But, he has a published book and I don't. All that being said, I might giv......more

Goodreads review by Kenzie on January 12, 2023

This is a very practical book about getting better at writing. It’s organized into different writing “experiences” that you can practice to help you improve your writing. Warner makes writing seem so accessible to everyone which I love. I can definitely see myself using his ideas with students.......more