In this brilliantly imagined book, author Danell Jones mines the diaries, essays, correspondence, and fiction of a literary legend to create an unforgettable master class in the art of writing. Using Virginia Woolf's own words, this inspiring, instructive, and entertaining guide will delight fans, students, and teachers alike—and at last give Woolf a classroom of her own.

Imagine what it might be like if Virginia Woolf were teaching a writers' workshop. What would she say? What elements of her own experience would writers today find valuable?

Now one need only to look within these pages to delight in her magic. For here, perched at the podium of a classroom, Woolf is ready to discuss the advice for writers that she scattered throughout her work.

From nurturing ideas and dealing with self-doubt to creating a completed work and getting published, here is a wellspring of practical advice, invaluable insights on the creative life, and dozens of "writing sparks”— exercises for writers of all levels— inspired by Woolf's most well-known works. Take your seat in class as she shares her wisdom, wit, and expertise on a range of matters, including:

•The value of experimentation

•How to use a journal for inspiration

•The importance of reading, walking, and practicing

•Methods for learning from great writers

Also provided are recommendations for further reading as well as the original sources of all of Woolf's quotes For deeper exploration. Let Woolf's utterly unique vision guide you to your own distinct voice at the same time that you deepen your appreciation and knowledge of her as a revolutionary writer and thinker.

Autorentext

Danell Jones has been teaching writing for more than twenty years. She earned her Ph.D. in English literature from Columbia University, where she was awarded both a Whiting Fellowship in the Humanities and a Bennett Cerf Award for her work on Virginia Woolf.

Jones's poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews have appeared in various publications, including the Denver Quarterly, British Writers, Beyond Baroque, and Virginia Woolf: Themes and Variations. She has been a finalist for the Bakeless Poetry Prize and the PEN/Nelson Algren Award for fiction and has won the Jovanovich Award for poetry. She has recently written the introduction to a new edition of Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room.

Danell Jones teaches and lives in Billings, Montana.