About the Book:

The Way We Write edited by Barbara Baker is a unique collection of new interviews with award-winning writers — novelists, poets, playwrights and children's writers. Each writer discusses their process, both mental and physical: why they write, who they write for, where and how often they write, their recurring themes, their problems and achievements. The interviews are personal, honest, informative, intriguing and often humorous. Each writer has also chosen a short extract from one of their works as an example of their style.

Together their stories offer a fascinating insight into what makes a successful writer. The Way We Write is an engaging collection that inspires and delights: it is sure to appeal to anyone who loves reading or has ever wanted to be a writer.

What people say:

"I really enjoyed this collection of interviews and know that I will return to it again and again… There is plenty of meat in this collection as well as humour, and those writers who are looking for that elusive elixir to transform their own writing would do well to have a read." — Annette Ecuyeré Lee in Writing in Education Magazine

"Barbara Baker has taken care to assemble a mix of practitioners who will offer something for almost every variety of novice writer, and it has to be said that even established writers would learn something from her book… The Way We Write is arguably one of the most successful and accessible volumes of writer interviews we have seen, with just the right balance of analysis and sheer individual and absorbing explanations of the craft of writing. It should be read and used in creative writing courses across the country and beyond." — Stephen Wade in Contemporary Review

"There are of course wonderful insights into particular novels, poems and plays, but what is most important about these interviews is the proximity they give us to the writing process. There really is no better way to understand the author's art and craft than by listening to him or her reflect on the imagination's journey to the page: the starting points, the struggles, decisions and revisions. And the tremendous variety of accounts within this particular book is important in itself, making clear that there are many paths to success. Barbara Baker is to be congratulated on eliciting these telling contributions from so many of our best-known authors." — Paul Munden, Director of the National Association of Writers in Education

"The descriptions of the writers' approaches to their craft read beautifully…. They are thoughtful, probing, reassuring at times, startling and generously provocative at others. There is much warmth and humour… it also tackles those big questions that fascinate so many people — what is inspiration and where does it come from; to what extent is writing autobiographical, and so forth. [This book] closes nothing off and opens everything up." — Nigel Jenkins, University of Wales, Swansea

About the Author:

Barbara Baker worked in stage management before becoming a full-time writer.