**In a series of conversational observations and meditations on the
writing process, The Art of Slow Writing examines the benefits of
writing slowly.
**
DeSalvo advises her readers to explore their creative process on deeper
levels by getting to know themselves and their stories more fully over a
longer period of time. She writes in the same supportive manner that
encourages her students, using the slow writing process to help them
explore the complexities of craft. The Art of Slow Writing is the
antidote to self-help books that preach the idea of fast-writing,
finishing a novel a year, and quick revisions. DeSalvo makes a case that
more mature writing often develops over a longer period of time and
offers tips and techniques to train the creative process in this new
experience.
DeSalvo describes the work habits of successful writers (among them,
Nobel Prize laureates) so that readers can use the information provided
to develop their identity as writers and transform their writing lives.
It includes anecdotes from classic American and international writers
such as John Steinbeck, Henry Miller, Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence
as well as contemporary authors such as Michael Chabon, Junot Diaz,
Jeffrey Eugenides, Ian McEwan, and Salman Rushdie. DeSalvo skillfully
and gently guides writers to not only start their work, but immerse
themselves fully in the process and create texts they will treasure.
