On Writing and Failure, Stephen Marche
On Writing and Failure, Stephen Marche
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On Writing and Failure
Or, the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer

Author: Stephen Marche

Narrator: Stephen Marche

Unabridged: 1 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 04/15/2023

Synopsis

Writing is, and always will be, an act defined by failure. The best plan is to just get used to it. Failure is a topic discussed in every creative writing department in the world, but this is the book every beginning writer should have on their shelf to prepare them. Less a guide to writing and more a guide to what you need to continue existing as a writer, On Writing and Failure: Or, On the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer describes the defining role played by rejection in literary endeavors and contemplates failure as the essence of the writer’s life. Along with his own history of rejection, Marche offers stories from the history of writerly failure, from Ovid’s exile and Dostoevsky’s mock execution to James Baldwin's advice just to endure, where living with the struggle and the pointlessness of writing is the point.

About Stephen Marche

Stephen Marche is a novelist and culture writer who has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Esquire, and many other outlets. His books include three novels, The Hunger of the Wolf, Raymond and Hannah, and Shining at the Bottom of the Sea, as well as The Unmade Bed and How Shakespeare Changed Everything. He lives in Toronto with his wife and children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on January 26, 2023

Writing and failure go together like a horse and carriage. Would-be writers see it as romantic, or life-saving, or at very least remote work. But ultimately, it is all about failure says Stephen Marche (citing George Orwell) in his book On Writing and Failure. Marche is a successful (in my mind) wri......more

Goodreads review by George on April 07, 2025

A short work about a big topic. Failure is something everyone encounters, no matter the endeavour. Marche suggests that writers must deal with failure at every turn, and even when becoming somewhat "successful" it just means "failing" at a different level. Dealing with rejection, bad reviews, indiffe......more

Goodreads review by Judy on December 04, 2023

I don’t remember how I came across this little book, perhaps on LitHub. I ordered it from a small Canadian press, it was a bit costly for such a small book, and it took a long time to arrive. How could I, who has a long and frustrating history of trouble with writing, resist though? Employing a humor......more

Goodreads review by H.L.H. on March 26, 2023

HEEEELL YES!!!!!! For all creatives. This one is actually honest.......more

Goodreads review by Lancelot on March 03, 2024

Remarkable little book on failing better all the way to suffering. He butchered the section on Jesus and sort of missed the point of Boethius, but it’s a great little book on how suffering makes the life of the writer.......more

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