In the crowded world of creative writing manuals, a new voice is causing a stir by gleefully dismantling the rulebook. Elizabeth McCracken, the acclaimed novelist and former tutor at the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop, has entered the fray with her new book, A Long Game: How to Write Fiction. It’s a work that takes direct aim at the cosy, often clichéd advice that has come to dominate the genre.
A Rebellious Entrance into the Craft Book Arena
McCracken makes her intentions clear from the very first sentence. "Nobody knows how to write a book," she declares, immediately setting herself apart from the typically encouraging, chipper tone of most guides. She confesses a dislike for craft books, stating she may have never read one through. This is not the voice of a benign, pipe-smoking mentor but of a naughty, perverse, and bracingly unashamed literary figure.
Her approach is a direct challenge to the established order of writing advice, which she sees as having evolved from the private language of workshops into a globalised, sometimes parodic, system. Where once terms like 'trope', 'POV', and 'character arc' were confined to creative writing circles, they now colour our interpretation of everything from novels to political narratives.
Demolishing the Sacred Cows of Writing Advice
McCracken’s book serves as a potent antidote to the poisonous clichés that can haunt aspiring writers. She takes particular aim at mantras like "Show, don't tell" and the ubiquitous "Write what you know." For McCracken, writing is not an exercise in obediently following a checklist. Instead, she frames it as "a form of sustained mischievous truancy." It’s about being interesting, not about being good.
This perspective is liberating. She even tackles the relentless pressure to "Write every day," offering a more brutally honest alternative: "Every-day writers have a clear answer to the question, How will you get your work done? Me, I harness the power of my own self-loathing." Her epigrammatic style delivers sharp, memorable insights that cut through conventional wisdom, such as her observation that writing about shame is fascinating, while feeling ashamed about writing is not.
A Legacy of Literary Rule-Breakers
In positioning herself against the craft book tradition, McCracken distinguishes her work from classics of the genre like Ursula K. Le Guin's 'Steering the Craft', Robert McKee's 'Story', and what she calls the "grandaddy" of them all, John Gardner's 'The Art of Fiction'. These works, often penned by successful authors or veteran tutors, represent the consensus she seeks to disrupt.
McCracken’s contrarian stance is rooted in the belief that the truly great writers were never interested in mere rule-following. Her book is less a manual and more a permission slip—a validation for writers to embrace their own peculiar methods and madness. It champions the idea that the creative process is personal, often messy, and defiantly individual.
'A Long Game: How to Write Fiction' by Elizabeth McCracken is published by Jonathan Cape (£14.99). For writers weary of prescriptive advice, McCracken offers a refreshing, rebellious, and intensely practical companion for the long journey of creating fiction.
