Madeline
They say “write what you know”. This is why there are movies about script writers and books about writers. And I am sick and tired of these cliches. If I had paid any attention to the title of Writers And Lovers, I would have likely never read it. And although it is likely somewhat autobiographical, the writer is actually a good enough writer to make this story good enough.
Premise of Writers And Lovers
Casey Peabody is a writer. A writer who has not written much if anything. She waits tables at a high end restaurant where she is treated like trash with the hopes that one day she will finish her novel. On top of that, she is single. With lovers coming in and out. Some great loves and some great shits. Her life is unstable and she is sick and tired of the uneven life she has created for herself.
The Struggling Life of An Artist
My college degree is not from a fancy state school or a liberal arts private school. My college degree is from Art school. Over the years, I feel as though this degree has done me a disservice. Not only did I not have the typical college experience that all my friends were lucky to have, but now I have the urge to quit my high paying technology job to be a writer or at least a creator of some sort.
Just like Casey in this book, I am not above waiting tables to move my life in this way and also like Casey, I have no idea where to start. Writers And Lovers came to me as a cautionary tale of the struggling life of an artist that I may not be interested in having.
Writers Who Write About Writing
In general, if you read about writers writing about writing or watch a movie about screenwriters writing about writing, and trust me, there are plenty of them, they are all about writers block. Then miraculously, someone comes into their life and the writers block is lifted. Run the other way.
Writers And Lovers is no different in this regard. Where it is different is that it is not lazy about it. Generally, these books are because writers are told to write what they know. If they have writers block, that is what they know…. If you have a blog and have writers block, you write about the book where the writer has writers block. Just kidding.
Final Thoughts
Although the topic, writers writing about writing, of Writers and Lovers was a very cliche topic, I thought it was developed in a way that was not cliche. It was unique enough that it stood out from the other books about exactly this. The stories that make up the story of Writers and Lovers was good enough to be worth the read. I will warn you though, as someone who does quite a bit of reading, do not expect me to read any other book about a writer.
