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On Writing (and Writers): A Miscellany of Advice and Opinions

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"While writing about writing is often deadly, Lewis is as delightful as he is wise." --The New York Times

A definitive collection of wisdom on every style of writing and a celebration of the transformative power of the written word from one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the modern age, C. S. Lewis, the beloved author of the Chronicles of Narnia series, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and other revered classics.

Featuring over one hundred excerpts--some short and some essay length--drawn from his wide body of letters, books, and essays, On Writing (and Writers) brings together C. S. Lewis's reflections on the power, importance, and joy of a life dedicated to writing.

Writers and devoted readers will be enriched and inspired by Lewis's commentary on a range of genres, including:

On Good WritingOn Writing FictionOn Writing PoetryOn Writing for ChildrenOn Writing Science FictionOn Christian WritingOn Writing PersuasivelyOn Other WritersWise and practical, On Writing (and Writers) reveals Lewis's thoughts on both mechanics and style, including choosing adjectives, the art of expression, how to connect with readers, and the core principles of clear, impactful writing.

A window into the mind of one of the greatest public intellectuals of the twentieth century--a gifted writer whose influence and insights remain relevant six decades after his death--this engaging collection reveals not only why Lewis loved the written word, but what it means to "gladly teach" the art of writing, so that wise readers can "gladly learn."

208 pages, ebook

Published November 1, 2022

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About the author

C.S. Lewis

1,248 books42.4k followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954. He was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity, Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and been transformed into three major motion pictures.

Lewis was married to poet Joy Davidman.
W.H. Lewis was his elder brother]

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
Profile Image for Justin Wiggins.
Author 25 books174 followers
January 14, 2023
This is a brilliant book compiled from the writings of C. S. Lewis by David C. Downing. Reading it gave me a greater love for myth, writing, literature, art, and Christ. I am very thankful for the Irish Ulsterman's writings!
Profile Image for June Price.
Author 7 books67 followers
October 7, 2022
Publication Nov. 1, 2022

It seems presumptuous of me to even be reviewing a book of C.S. Lewis' writings. It's also presumptuous of me to use the word presumptuous as one of the things he repeatedly cautions writers against is using a big word when a smaller, more common one will do. So, let's rephrase this as "It seems wrong for me to review work by C.S. Lewis. But, well, here goes....

Lewis was a writer, yes, but also a teacher. Reading his responses to letters obviously written by young writers is eye-opening. It isn't just the advice he gives but the patient, positive vibes of his responses show the teacher side. Divided into sections by focus, it's a book easily read in spurts, flipping back-and-forth or, gasp, even skipping a section or two. I read them all, even the poetry section even though my poetic skills seems to largely begin and end with trite phrasing such as "I'm not a poet/And I know it". Hopefully you're more poetic but there is something within for every budding writer no matter what your genre. Heck, you don't even have to want to write books. It's applicable for everything from your efforts at the Great American Novel to, well, reviews and common written exchanges today.

I wonder what Lewis, who died in 1983, would think of modern social media, too. One of the points he makes is to write for the ear as well as the eye, yes, but he also strongly emphasizes, as I've already noted, the need to be direct and avoid using a big word when a little one, so to speak, will do just as well. For instance, don't say "the mortality rate escalated" when "many people died" says the same thing in a clearer, more direct way. No, I don't think we'd find C.S. Lewis writing news headlines for social media. Bottom line, choose your words and avoid verbicide, ie the murder of words. I love that word. I also loved this book and expect to return to it again and again. Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarperOne for reminding me that I need to read the Narnia Chronicles again...soon.
Profile Image for Greg.
491 reviews121 followers
April 27, 2023
The shocking truth is that, while insincerity may be fatal to good writing, sincerity, of itself, never taught anyone to write well. It is a moral virtue, not a literary talent.

C.S. Lewis
Every now and then readers (after all, if writers are anything, they are readers) need a little time to break away from the usual. But nothing shallow or trite, please. This short collection by one of the more interesting, wide-ranging of English writers of the past century and a half, C.S. Lewis, fits the bill. Most of the pieces, except for extended readings about writing for children on J.R.R. Tolkiens first volume of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. There are bits of wisdom, humor, and vanity that all lead to thoughts about writing. Highly recommended as a diversion to tune up the mind and think a bit differently about writing.

If there was one observation that about writing that stuck with me, it was his warning against the casual use of descriptive adjectives. They are often a copout for lazy writers and make the reader do the work for them. It never works out for either. But don’t think about this or discard them in the first draft. Use them as challenges. Rather than write something like “astoundingly,” use it as a challenge to write why it is so without using the word. “Its very limitations of vocabulary became an attraction, as the hardness of stone pleases a sculptor or the difficulty of the sonnet delights the sonneteer.” Often the difficulty of writing is its own joy.

And there is fun stuff too. It’s easy to relate to his visceral disgust with trade paperbacks; when I see them in airports and people breaking the backs and folding the corners it drives me crazy. People like these are not readers, each is “unliterary” and “may be defined as [one] who reads books only once.” When he observes, “no reader worth his salt trots along to the obedience of a timetable”, I have to admit to being occasionally guilty, so this is a good reminder for readers too. But as we write, Lewis realizes it’s all a sort of vanity, one of the reasons we write these reviews:
After all, what is the object of writing to friends except that of talking oneself into a state of self-importance and the belief that one’s own perversities are a matter of universal sympathy.
Profile Image for Erik Rostad.
365 reviews138 followers
July 10, 2023
Every now and then, I think maybe C. S. Lewis isn’t my favorite author, but then I pick up his writing and remember why he holds that place in my life. This was such a neat and concise collection of Lewis quotes and essays. I learned about his writing style (he gathers various images in his head and then attempts to connect them via story), his thoughts about The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (utterly fascinating, he predicted both would become classics), and his analysis of authors and their works ("I can't bear Walt Whitman."). I plan to read all of Lewis at some point in the future, but in the meantime, this is the perfect way to imbibe his thoughts on writing and writers.
Profile Image for €1£€¥.
90 reviews3 followers
September 16, 2023
i love cs lewis' writing style so it was cool reading about his advice about writing <3
Profile Image for Stephen.
Author 3 books14 followers
January 7, 2023
This is a good collection, gathered from letters, essays, and books, of C.S. Lewis's many comments on writing and other writers. Many of the excerpts from his letters (including some from as early as 1916, when Lewis was 17) are new to me. Some of my favorite passages are these, on the value of stories and of poetry, respectively:

"Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or about the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings . . . . But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday school associations, one could make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could."
-- From "Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to be Said" from On Stories

"For poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible."
-- From Reflections on the Psalms

Having written those quotes in my commonplace book, I had the opportunity to share them with my literature classes this week to make a case for the value of storytelling and of poetry.
Profile Image for Nadia.
172 reviews
March 21, 2023
On Three Ways of Writing for Children was a particularly strong essay from this collection, but having only the bits and thoughts on the craft of writing and then on authors and their works was a really nice sampling of some of Lewis' wisdom. I feel like this is one I could return to often and pull what I need from it.
1,081 reviews16 followers
October 12, 2022
As the title states, this is a collection of writing advice taken from letters and other sources from one of the greatest authors of our time, C.S. Lewis. He is probably most well-known for The Chronicles of Narnia. If you have not read them, stop what you are doing right now and go find a copy.

If you are an author, put this on the top of your to-be-read list. It doesn't matter what kind of writing you do. Read this. Note - Lewis taught at Oxford and Cambridge, and some of this book sounds like it. Don't let it discourage you if it's a bit heady. Just read it again.

The highlight is his reviews of The Hobbit ("The Hobbit may well prove a classic.") and The Lord of the Rings ("Nothing quite like it was ever done before."). Lewis and Tolkien were good friends, and Lewis got to read them before they were published. Can you imagine?

Completely family friendly.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of the book. Opinions are mine.
Profile Image for Jess - The Hexed Library.
892 reviews114 followers
Shelved as 'dnf-2023'
April 27, 2023
This was not really what I was expecting and that may be my fault.

Unlike other writing advice books, this was short snippets of things Lewis had written over his lifetime and while I appreciate that, it wasn't a valuable learning experience for me. Everything was so short and snappy that I didn't fully get enveloped in any of the concepts.

I can see how this could be useful for some people, but it didn't work for me.
March 1, 2024
This has all the advice a writer could want or need, and much more. As per usual, Lewis paints us picture after picture of advice and ideas that are truly helpful and thoughtful in their nature. It’s as if he set down a canvas only to say, “just once more, actually, I’ve thought of something else,” and picks up the paintbrush again.

There’s plenty of humor here, plenty of priceless passages that we would do well to return to time and time again, and it’s just a lovely little collection. My thanks to David C. Downing for compiling it.
Profile Image for J.
353 reviews20 followers
December 28, 2023
Fabulous.

Adored this compilation of Lewis’s thoughts on writing—he describes things so aptly, with such clever turns of phrase and incisive insight. There’s honestly probably more highlighted in the book than there isn’t, every page is a gem.

Would recommend to any writer!

Abounding gratefulness to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc—I’m going to order my copy now!
Profile Image for Laura.
33 reviews
September 21, 2023
Bravo! Rather than being a lazy collection of essays with a new title cover, this anthology is the result of carefully collecting all relevant exerts from 4000 pages of letters, popular essays and academic writings. I was particularly struck by Lewis' view of creation and originality. Authors do not create, but "re-arrange elements He has provided".
Profile Image for Lori Altebaumer.
Author 7 books96 followers
December 28, 2022
While I enjoyed the first half of this book more than the last (and that's more likely because I don't write children's or science fiction), there a nuggets of wisdom throughout! There is wisdom from Lewis on the practical side of the craft as well as insight, inspiration, and encouragement for the less practical question of why we must write. And each thought expressed in typical Lewis directness dressed in just the word choices.

"...style is the art of expressing a given thought in the most beautiful words and rhythms of words."

"I sometimes think that writing is like driving sheep down the road. If there is a gate left open to the left or the right, the readers will most certainly go into it."

"Let me taste for myself, and you'll have no need to tell me how I should react to the flavor."

And my favorite...

"Ink is a deadly drug. One wants to write. I cannot shake off the addiction."
Profile Image for Chad CG.
166 reviews
September 3, 2023
(4.1)

His writing advice was not the best but I believe that to be because his advice was never really intended to be formatted in this fashion. Letters, responses to specific people, and excerpts from many of his works are all what come together to form the majority of this book. It’s interesting to have them compiled here in one place, but to use this as a resource to grow as a writer, one would be slightly disappointed and not much further along. What I will say, however, is that I do feel I grew to understand more of Lewis and his thoughts and opinions (some of which were kind of abrasive, i.e his English pride). This is especially true throughout the last quarter of the book where we get to read his thoughts on many writers and their works. It was a friendly and familial feeling agreeing with the takes on literature and authors by a highly renowned and exceptional writer and champion of the Christian faith.
Profile Image for Meagan.
1,710 reviews54 followers
December 8, 2022
I adore CS Lewis, and was so excited to discover this book! He was such a prolific author, and wrote so many letters over his lifetime--I loved the opportunity to focus just on one topic, that of writing and writers. His humor absolutely shines through here, along with his quintessential dry wit!

As an editor myself (I will never get tired of saying that, lol), I found the read informative, encouraging, and inspiring; indeed, it will help me do my day job all the better.

A fantastic opportunity to learn from one of the very best on a topic he was exceptionally good at, and more than qualified to address. 5/5 stars.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Samantha.
1,914 reviews123 followers
January 19, 2023
A terrific little collection of C.S.Lewis’ thoughts and musings on writing, writers, and reading.

Lewis is a delight to read no matter the subject, but I’ve recently become especially appreciative of his nonfiction and literary criticism, which is fantastically sharp, funny, and spot on. This one is particularly good if you’re an appreciator or practitioner of the craft of writing.

I particularly enjoyed Lewis’ thoughts on writing for children, as well as the collection of missives about well-known writers and their works. The piece on T.S. Eliot was absolutely hilarious, and I loved reading Lewis’ intriguing thoughts on why Sayers’ translation of Dante was such a success.

An absolute gem of a book.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Profile Image for Liv.
11 reviews
March 1, 2024
I listened to this audiobook, which I don’t recommend. It doesn’t lend well to audio. Many of the selections were really short, and after each selection came a long citation, tediously read aloud as dramatically as the piece itself. Had I read a hard copy, I could have glanced over the citations without breaking the flow to the next piece. Oh well.

I particularly liked the small bits and bobs of Lewis’s thoughts on other writers. I wonder if he would be a little embarrassed knowing his personal opinions of these writers (many his contemporaries) were made public. Most were not glowing reviews. I enjoyed it nonetheless. Surprisingly, he loved my favorite author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, despite his one shortcoming—he was an American.
Profile Image for L. Taylor.
31 reviews6 followers
August 21, 2023
This book was great! I'm not the biggest fan of nonfiction unless I'm assigned to read it, but this was a slow, leisurely read. It felt like I was sitting and listening to Lewis ramble on about writing, and it was cozy and beneficial all at once.

If you're looking for solid advice on writing (and a few good book recommendations!), this book will be right up your alley.
Profile Image for Roderick Vonhögen.
316 reviews62 followers
January 28, 2023
A fascinating collection of articles and comments C.S. Lewis made over the years about writing and about writers. It gave me a whole new appreciation of Lewis and often surprised me by the depth of his remarks. His reviews of The Hobbit and of the Lord of the Rings long before these books became a phenomenon were a joy to read. The audiobook version is wonderfully read by John Lee.
Profile Image for Just.
116 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2023
One of the things that I love most about social media is how I've been able to connect with authors that I admire. I personally believe that C.S. Lewis would have frowned at most social media today, but I feel he would have loved writing back to people on Instagram or through email. He wrote to so many, sharing his wisdom on many topics, including writing. This book is full of wisdom for writers and I'm so thankful to have this tool in my library.

My challenge! Think of a question you'd like to ask C.S. Lewis about writing, pick up this book, and see if he answers it. ♡
Profile Image for Liz Busby.
902 reviews27 followers
September 14, 2022
I received a review copy of this book on Netgalley.

Really nice to have so much of CS Lewis's advice about writing in one spot. Many of the little tidbits from the letters were new to me, though I had recently read several of the longer pieces ("On Science Fiction," "Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to Be Said," and his commentary on Lord of the Rings). Lewis's advice is still relevant in the modern day; I always find some new concept when I read his work. For example, his idea of "narrative-lust" as a distraction in our first reading of a book was interesting in the context of the modern obsession with avoiding spoilers. Though there was less new content than I had hoped, I still appreciated the collection and pulled lots of quotes from it into my quote archive.
Profile Image for Lauren.
Author 5 books45 followers
August 15, 2022
What a fun read from NetGalley! As a writer, I loved Lewis' tidbits and advice along to fellow writers, whether it be general advice, on children's books, or on Christianity. In addition, his thoughts on well-known others throughout history and their famous pieces were very interesting.

This short(ish) book is fun for anyone who just has a love for books, loves C.S. Lewis, or is a writer. We can all enjoy some part and feel a little more connected to the man behind "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".

If you ever wondered where his ideas come from, read this book.
Profile Image for WhovianatHearts.
42 reviews
September 1, 2022
Thank you Net Galley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

For readers who enjoyed Stephen King's On Writing, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in writing as a career. C.S Lewis provides succient but concrete advice about writing. The format of the book is easy to read. The chapters are organized so that if you only want to learn about advice on a particular topic such as poetry, you can skip and read the aspects that are most relevant to you.
Profile Image for Josh Bailey.
12 reviews4 followers
June 15, 2023
"We must not of course write anything that will flatter lust, pride or ambition. But we needn’t all write patently moral or theological work. Indeed, work whose Christianity is latent may do quite as much good and may reach some whom the more obvious religious work would scare away. The first business of a story is to be a good story. When Our Lord made a wheel in the carpenter shop, depend upon it: It was first and foremost a good wheel. Don’t try to ‘bring in’ specifically Christian bits: if God wants you to serve him in that way (He may not: there are different vocations) you will find it coming in of its own accord. If not, well—a good story which will give innocent pleasure is a good thing, just like cooking a good nourishing meal. . . . Any honest workmanship (whether making stories, shoes, or rabbit hutches) can be done to the glory of God."

“I thought I saw how stories of this kind could steal past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much of my own religion in childhood. Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings. And reverence itself did harm. The whole subject was associated with lowered voices; almost as if it were something medical. But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday School associations, one could make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not thus steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could.”
Profile Image for John Coupland.
33 reviews1 follower
January 15, 2024
One excellent point Lewis makes is that there is no point criticizing a work if you just don’t like the genre to which it belongs. With this in mind, I’ll refrain from criticizing this book. I’m sure it’s a good collection but I was hoping for Lewis’ extended thoughts on writing or even a critic’s effort to elucidate those views from all he had written. This is an anthology, I’m sure a good one, but it feels disconnected. A collection of aphorisms.

There are, however, some really good ones.

On Machiavelli “to readers who seriously sought instruction in the art of tyranny, he could after all reveal only the secret which all men knew - not to be but to seem virtuous. It is a formula whose utility we all discovered in the nursery”

“[Lewis] told me the thing he most loved about writing was it did two things at once. This he illustrated by saying ‘I don’t know what I mean, until I see what I’ve said’”

On description: “Let me taste for myself and you have no need to tell me how I would react to the flavour”

“…most people are obviously far more anxious to express their approval and disapproval of things than to describe them. Hence the tendency of words to become less descriptive and more evaluative; then become evaluative, while still retaining some hint of the sort of goodness or badness implied; and to end up by being purely evaluative -- useless synonyms for good or for bad.”





Profile Image for Melissa Vinson.
319 reviews8 followers
November 17, 2022
Who here is a writer? ✍🏻 If you are, you might enjoy this little gem. It’s a fairly quick read with lots of little nuggets of wisdom, written in an engaging epistolary style. Ever since I read CS Lewis’s Surprised By Joy earlier this year, I knew I wanted to delve deeper into his nonfiction works, so imagine my surprise when @cslewis_official contacted me about reviewing this book. Of course I said yes!

CS Lewis wrote lots of books over the course of his life, but I think we sometimes forget that he was also an English professor, and a good many of the letters in this book were written in answer to questions from students of writing. The book is divided into sections by topic and there’s something here for everyone, from poets to novelists and everything in between. I don’t even consider myself to be a writer (aside from personal journaling), yet I’ve highlighted something on almost every page! I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from the revered author who gave us the beloved Chronicles of Narnia series.

Thank you to the team at the CS Lewis Estate and Harper One Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
538 reviews10 followers
October 29, 2022
ON WRITING (AND WRITERS) presents the words of C.S. Lewis specifically oriented to writers, writing, and the world of writing. Gathered and arranged byDavid C. Downing, the book lays out the considerable depth, wit, kindness, and intelligence of an essential writer in English literature. I delighted in the depth and breadth of Lewis' correspondence and other writing and laughed out loud at his clear, forthright repudiation of so many modern myths of how to write and be a writer. If Downing's intent was to share a buffet, he has succeeded well, but left me wanting so much more, both in the words of Lewis and the perspective of an expert in Lewis' body of work. The parsing of particular topics felt too fine and small; I think more would have been gained had the editor gathered the words into looser groups and let them loose rather than tethering them with citations that interrupted what would have been an entirely pleasurable read. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.
Profile Image for Marie.
682 reviews17 followers
February 26, 2024
If you have read and enjoyed C.S. Lewis you will appreciate to a greater extent than the non-reader his ruminations and observations about the nature of writing. He refers to many authors who are now considered "the canon" of a particular vein of literature. And he talks as well about reading and rereading a work of value. Lewis has a lot to say about what he feels is critical to writing excellence; Elmore Leonard's later style and rules came to mind. His opinions on the significance of setting to a work of fiction are enlightening. His analysis of "children's literature" is relevant still; Lewis respected the child as a unique and independent reader who brings their own tastes to the work. His long and passionately positive reviews of Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings brings those books and their themes to the fore of thought and discussion. One sure thing: Lewis relished a good read. This audiobook empathetically read by John Lee, who as usual makes me forget that the reader is not the original scribe.
Profile Image for Dan'l Danehy-Oakes.
616 reviews12 followers
March 26, 2024
This is a Frankenbook: that is, pieces of other books (and a few essays and many letters -- most or all of which are, yes, collected in books) have been extracted and assembled into a "new" book.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that there was not one word of CSL's in this volume that I haven't read before.

The Preface, by the book's editor, one David C. Downing, does not make its nature clear, which I find rather disingenuous of him. Though, in fairness, anyone who is paying attention will figure it out quickly, since each passage is immediately followed by a citation of where it comes from. In fairness to the reader, however, many will (as I did) purchase this volume with the expectation that it contains at least something new.

The selection of passages is pretty good, given the nature of the book. As is usual with CSL, they are all eminently readable, mostly quite sensible, and occasionally piercingly insightful.

But I still feel kind of cheated... I'm glad I didn't pay much for the Kindle edition of this.
Profile Image for Michael McGrath.
139 reviews3 followers
February 15, 2023
There are some very good bits, his praise of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, despite Tolkien's dislike for his own Narnia. There are also some surprises, his enjoyment of the lesser known works of H.G. Wells, and his unwarranted critique against T.H. White's poignant Arthurian retelling. I would have thought otherwise, for Lewis was an Arthurian buff, and I wonder what he would have made out of the horrible retellings that have come since.

There are some little treasure tidbits and advice on writing as a craft, much of it derived from his wealthy correspondence, such as: "Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure of all human ills, as I have found out long ago."

I think this makes a companionable volume to take with you anywhere. It is a small book and nice edition to his "Reading Life"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews

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