Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process - Softcover

John McPhee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1925603652 ISBN 13: 9781925603651

Publisher: Text Publishing Company, 2018

Synopsis

Recipient of the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award

Draft No. 4 is a master class on the writer's craft. John McPhee shares insights he has gathered over his long career, and has refined while teaching at Princeton University, where he has nurtured some of the most highly regarded writers of our time. He discusses structure, diction and tone, observing that 'readers are not supposed to notice the structure. It is meant to be about as visible as someone's bones.' This book is a vivid depiction of the writing process, from reporting to drafting to revising - and revising and revising.

About this title

Review

"McPhee's sentences are born of patience and attention: he seems to possess a pair of eyes with the swivel, zoom and reach of a peregrine falcon's, and a pair of ears with the recording ability of a dictaphone. He notices almost everything." -- Robert Macfarlane, The Guardian

"Matchless teaching from a master of the form - seductive, trustworthy and endearingly modest." -- Helen Garner

"A sunny tribute to the gloomy side of the writing life... It's McPhee on McPhee; commentary on his greatest hits, a little backstory, a little affectionate gossip... His advice is in the service of making the text as sturdy, useful and beautiful as possible. It's an intimate book--and intimacy is rare in McPhee's work... For most of his career, McPhee has written reverently about... methodical, somewhat solitary men (mostly) who work with their hands and take quiet pride in their work. In his meticulous approach to his own work, McPhee resembles his subjects." -- The New York Times

"A book that any writer, aspiring or accomplished, could profitably read, study and argue with... For over half a century, John McPhee--now 86--has been writing profiles of scientists, eccentrics and specialists of every stripe. All are exceptional at what they do. So, too, is their discerning chronicler." -- Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"[Draft No. 4 ]'s combination of shop talk, war stories, slices of autobiography, and priceless insights and lessons suggests what it must be like to occupy a seat in the McPhee classroom... McPhee's observations about writing are always invigorating to engage with. And Draft No. 4 belongs on the short shelf of essential books about the craft." -- The Wall Street Journal

"Followers of John McPhee, perhaps the most revered nonfiction narrative journalist of our time, will luxuriate in the ship-shape prose of "Draft No. 4 "... often delightful . . .interspersed with observations every writer should remember... the last three chapters will be assigned and reassigned by grateful writing teachers... I savored every word"-- New York Times Book Review

"Reading [these essays] consecutively in one volume constitutes a master class in writing, as the author clearly demonstrates why he has taught so successfully part-time for decades at Princeton University. In one of the essays, McPhee focuses on the personalities and skills of editors and publishers for whom he has worked, and his descriptions of those men and women are insightful and delightful... Almost every sentence sparkles, with wordplay evident throughout. Another bonus is the detailed explanation of how McPhee decided to tackle certain topics and then how he chose to structure the resulting pieces. Readers already familiar with the author's masterpieces... will feel especially fulfilled by McPhee's discussions of the specifics from his many books... A superb book about doing his job by a master of his craft." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"[Draft No. 4 is] not a general how-to-do-it manual but a personal how-I-did-it of richer depth--not bouillon cubes, but rich stock... McPhee lays it all out with the wit of one who believes that 'writing has to be fun at least once in a pale blue moon.'" -- Publishers Weekly

"Eight crisply instructive and drolly self-deprecating essays [are] gathered here in this exceptionally entertaining and illuminating book... [Draft No. 4 ] is expert, charming, and invigorating." --Booklist

"McPhee has set the standard for the genre of creative nonfiction... With humor and aplomb, he recalls anecdotes about how he approached a story: from interviewing and reporting to drafting and revising, to working with editors and publishers... [Draft No. 4 is] a well-wrought road map to navigating the twists and turns, thrills and pitfalls, and joys and sorrows of the writer's journey." -- Library Journal

"Draft No. 4 is as lean and punchy a book as anything McPhee wrote in his thirties... The book's ostensible focus of imparting the wisdom accumulated over a lifetime of writing blurs often and very enjoyably with reminiscences about McPhee's own long apprenticeship in the craft... The star attraction here isn't the method but the man; readers who go in knowing that will be endlessly fascinated - and may learn a good deal." --The Christian Science Monitor

'Anyone aspiring to make a living from writing long-form journalism or literary non-fiction should read this book, absorb its lessons on the art of crafting clear and compelling prose, and then accept that the professional world McPhee was lucky enough to inhabit is now gone.' -- Scotsman

"A marvellous new book... A fascinating book for anyone interested in writing." --Australian

About the Author

John McPhee is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He is the author of thirty-two books, all published by FSG. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Edition details

• Publisher: Text Publishing Company
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1925603652
• ISBN 13: 9781925603651
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208