A Long Game

Warm, wise and full of practical tips, this book is the ideal companion to every writing life
'Elizabeth McCracken is one of America's finest writers' Garth Greenwell
Write every day
Show, don't tell
Write what you know
Kill Your Darlings
These are some of the most popular nuggets of advice given to writers, universally agreed to be true. They are all pieces of writing advice that Elizabeth McCracken expertly and persuasively shoots down in A Long Game.
McCracken has been writing for most of her life. For over thirty-five years, she has also taught creative writing to generations of students, including at Iowa, guiding many writers towards their own answers to the question of how to write fiction. In A Long Game, she shares insights gleaned along the way, deconstructing received wisdom whilst playfully tackling the mysteries that are inherent to writing and creativity.
This book will lead any writer, at any stage of their career, back to the page. As much a book about the life of a working artist as it is a guide to thinking about fiction, A Long Game is a revelatory and indispensable resource, and the ideal companion to every writing life.
'Elizabeth McCracken was my teacher, and it's a joy to know that now more people will have access to her brilliance through A Long Game... A guidebook for any fiction writer, and a problem-solving and cheering companion that makes writing a less lonely business' Yiyun Li

Elizabeth McCracken is the award-winning author of eight books, Here's Your Hat What's Your Hurry, The Giant's House (a National Book Award finalist), Niagara Falls All Over Again, the memoir An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imag­ination, Thunderstruck & Other Stories (winner of the 2014 Story Prize, longlisted for the National Book Award), The Souvenir Museum and The Hero of This Book. She has received grants and fellow­ships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts and she was chosen as one of Granta's 20 Best American Writers Under 40. She has served on the faculty at the Iowa Writers' Workshop and taught at the University of Texas at Austin.