Writing About Nature: A Creative Guide, Revised Edition.Originally published by the Sierra Club in 1995, this handbook has already helped thousands of aspiring writers, scholars, and students share their experiences with nature and the outdoors. Using exercises and examples, John Murray covers genres, techniques, and publication issues. He uses examples from such masters as Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Larry McMurtry, Edward Abbey, Ernest Hemingway, and Henry David Thoreau. Also included are recommended readings, a directory of creative writing programs, professional organizations for writers, and a directory of environmental organizations. This revised edition includes a new chapter on nature writing and environmental activism. "Nature is our grandest and oldest home, older than language, grander than consciousness. John Murray knows that in his bones, and he shares his knowledge generously with anyone who opens this book. Whether you write about the earth for publication or only for deepening your perceptions, you will find keen-eyed guidance here." - Scott Russell Sanders, author of Staying Put |
From inside the book
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... River ) . By reading Hawthorne's account , and those of Emerson and other members of Thoreau's milieu , we are able to form an image of the writer that both complements and contrasts that found in his own writing . Similarly , we have ...
... River " in Abbey's book Desert Solitaire . According to Petersen , one of the most striking changes evident in the journals was Abbey's gradual but steady shift from youthful “ romantic idealism ” to “ a pragmatic , defensive ...
... river . ( October 26 , 1728 ) Practice Exercises 1. Write a journal that covers one season of the year in the manner of Rick Bass's Winter : Notes from Montana . Either begin on the equinox or solstice and proceed daily through that ...
... River , " for example , Abbey turned the journal of a week - long float down an Alaskan River into an essay , with the daily entries literally forming the structural basis for the nature essay . Another important essay- " Down the River ...
... rivers and people . The best of them continue to live , in the years after we are gone , and give to our dead names a second breath of life . The very best of them , the truest and most finely crafted , will endure as long as the ...
Contents
23 | |
Figurative Language | 73 |
Character and Dialogue | 87 |
StoryTelling | 95 |
Style | 105 |
Fiction and Poetry | 115 |
Revision | 129 |
Research | 137 |
Workshopping | 149 |
Environmental Activism | 171 |