I received an early copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

I've read many writing books. Straczynski's new release approaches the subject of writing from a fresh angle: his own life, with his diverse experience in Hollywood and in publishing, as he discusses the tenacity and work necessary to "make it" within the industries--and then how to hang after that. His tone is easy and conversational, and the book is a fast read.

I've adored the man since I was a Babylon 5 fan as a teenager, and this book increased my esteem for him even more. As a writer myself, one who is definitely at the "trying to hang on" stage, this book felt both timely and personal. Straczynski gets it. Even with all his success, he's still working hard because he loves what he does, as challenging as it is at times.

He begins with a Stephen King quote that I hadn't seen before: "In the end, you don't even do it [writing] for love, although it would be nice to think so. You do it because to <i>not</i> do it is suicide."

That sets the tone for the book. Everything here is for people who NEED to write, even though it's hard, enough though life and rejection grind you down. Even more: even when writers grind down themselves. As he notes, "A writing career can survive rejection, ridicule, starvation, and loneliness, but fear or complacency will kill it every time."

He doesn't claim to possess any shortcuts or special methods. He actually, with exasperation, describes people he's dealt with time and again who insist otherwise. When it comes down to it, the book is about tenacity and hard work. Other writing books address that, sure, but Straczynski's words really resonated with me. This is the kind of volume I think I'll reference again in the future when I need his honest outlook to motivate me.

My thanks to both NetGalley and BenBella Books for this guide to writing.

As a writer who declares loudly that he is a writer, and yet I don't like even sharing my book reviews with people, I've read more than a few, slightly less than a ton of magazines, guides, how-tos, why nots, and biographies and letters of writers and what to do to be become one. Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling by J. Michael Straczynski is the best.

The book motivates, pushes teaches, and shows you the writing life, not juts sitting down and doing it, but how to keep doing it day after day, no matter what the outer world, and more importantly the inner voice is telling you. Mr. Straczynski wants you to write as he shares all the joy that writing has added to his life. Sure there might be some revenge as with one teacher who told him he had no future, but writing to Mr. Straczynski is like breathing. He needs to do it. And understands that you the reader wants to also.

There are stories, which are helpful,but loads of practical advice, motivation and reasons for writing. Mr. Straczynski has not had the easiest of lives, but that has not stopped or crushed him from being the person he wants to be. He feels the importance of offering the next group a hand up. And he has done so with this book. I feel that quite a few acknowledgement pages will be listing his name for helping a burgeoning writer keep the dream alive.

An excellent resource for aspiring writers. A recommended purchase for collections where writing craft books are popular. HS crossover appeal for schools with strong creative writing programs.

My library has a writing club and we are always on the lookout for good books about writing...this was a slightly different vein than what I usually look for for the group. I think for the younger people who would like to be career writers this will be a wonderful tool. However there is a lot to be gained by the retirees who only write as something to occupy them during the long cold winter. Regardless of someone's aspirations for their writing, I think this book would provide much needed guidance/information.

What an excellent guidebook for writers.

Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer is an easy book that provides tips on storytelling in such a way that you can easily follow.

If you have ever been interested in character building and everything else that comes with writing a book then this guidebook is amazing. What's great is, it also addresses critical points after you have started writing.

Have you ever experienced writer's block? Well, this author is an experienced writer and wants to share with you everything he has learned since he started his career.

Excellent bible for new and existing writers.

As someone who is an emerging fiction writer (with a few contracted books to be released) and experienced non-fiction writer, I read this book with interest. It's one I would recommend especially to those starting out. It covers topics that you might not expect, including Imposter Syndrome, and Writer's Block. Overall I would recommend this book, particularly for those who are new to writing. For those experienced, you may get something out of it, particularly in the sections on 'Staying a Writer'. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, the hard truth first: after reading the book, I realized I wasn’t a writer, not even an amateur or an aspiring one. The writer is somebody who writes; that’s the whole point. If you can live without writing, you are not a writer. I fell into the same trap as many people before me: I think about writing more than I actually write.
Starting from J. Michael Straczynski's book ‘Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling,’ I decided to distract myself from writing by reading about writing.
The book itself is more of a general summary of the author’s experience, eligible, unfortunately, mainly for the US audience. It was a great read, anyway, for an unemployed Russian-speaking housewife from Estonia like myself. Our universities and colleges do not have courses on writing because the market has a limited capacity of 1.3 million people, of which only 30% would buy books in Russian. Thus, the tips and tricks from the book can’t be applied to my reality, though I do not doubt that these are useful in other countries.
J. Michael Straczynski is a veteran of the industry. Comics, TV/film scripts, playwrights, radio broadcasts, and books on writing are among his activities – he surely knows the ways. Without giving away much information, I’d highlight one principle for each half of the book: to become a writer, one has to write faster than a speeding bullet; to stay a writer, one must constantly evolve and learn.
Unfinished projects mean you are not a writer.
Sticking to the comfort zone shortens your life span as a successful writer to ten years.
If you are an introvert or an ambitious actor, or both, it doesn’t automatically indicate that you have writing talent.
Don’t even assume that a writing profession is easy and, once on track, it will provide a livelihood without much effort.
The outstanding chapter that moved me at the emotional level talks not to writers, future, present or former, but the Person behind a writer’s back. With kindness and care, the author speaks about difficulties being in a constant shift between I-am-a-genius and I-am-nothing positions as most writers do. The Person behind a writer’s back has a nerves-consuming task of encouraging and occasionally admonishing to have a sleep and dinner. The chapter is a heartwarming reminder that the profession, especially an artistic career, impacts all family members, and their support is vital for survival.
Needless to say, I’d recommend the book to writers of all genres and ages. If you are planning a career in Hollywood, the book would be twice helpful in your pursuit of the dream.

This book is hands down the best guide for both beginner writers and those who have found some success in their craft that I have ever read. There are some amazing, hard-won nuggets of wisdom in these pages. Half the time I felt like I could have been in a cozy pub, having a pint with the the best mentor possible. I read it in one day, one sitting because I couldn't bear to put it down. When I did finish it, I felt like a little new born baby writer-lamb being set on her feet, watched over and encouraged to go play in the daisy field by my new shepherd-mentor (while he also admonishes me to "finish it"...).

If you have ever scribbled your daydream down, or wished you had, THIS is the book for you!

This is a great book on writing for anyone who is interested in the art of storytelling. It doesn't include a lot of craft suggestions, which is fine because you can get those kinds of tips from other books. This book focuses on areas that often don't get mentioned in writing books--like how to pitch your story, how to collaborate with other writers, and how to edit with precision. Straczynski also gives some anecdotes from his own life, like Stephen King did in his own writing memoir.

This is a very practical book for writers at all different levels of experience, but the advice is more advanced than what you'll find in most how-to books. The writer clearly knows his stuff, and I enjoyed his philosophical commentary on the writing life. Some of the jokes fell flat for me, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Much better written than I expected from a writer best known for film and TV (not formats you naturally expect to translate to writing a book-length nonfiction project), and far more sensible than many of the writing tips books I've bought/been given (sometimes, amusingly, by people who didn't know much about writing) over the years. A cut above average, and well worth getting!

J. Michael Straczynski Becoming A writer, Staying A Writer, BenBella Books, Inc. Dallas, TX, copyright @2021 Synthetic Worlds, Ltd.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer is replete with ideas; some criticisms of various methods used to teach writing; an insight into the life of a writer, with its pinnacles and troughs; and J. Michael Straczynski’s experiences with which he imparts his knowledge. I have an overwhelming feeling of appreciation for his zest in equipping writers with thoughtful ideas and tools for meeting the challenges confronting anyone who wants to be a writer and maintain that status. At the same time, I have some criticisms and see this book as part of a writer’s source of advice, rather than a perfect guide. Some of the advice appears difficult to follow or lacking in understanding, and although that is inevitable because of writers’ different capacities and requirements, it needs to be noted. What stands out are some marvellous sections of advice and information that cannot missed. J. Michael Straczynski has written from a writer’s world to writers who want to join it, or remain in it, combining entertainment as well as advice in the invitation to learn.

J. Michael Straczynski speaks of writing and rewriting, almost hewing the paragraphs into shape such as the work of a sculptor, as one of the feats a writer must achieve. He also provides excellent advice on where to end a piece of writing – leave an unfinished sentence so it can be completed at the next writing, beginning the next day’s work smoothly. Reading this advice, I wondered about the beginning of this book. It is quite autobiographical, and where the remaining work gives us so much understanding and insight into Straczynski I wonder – is so much material here necessary? Is he taking over where he left his autobiography? I wanted to get into the world of writing more directly, so found the first pages unexciting. Fortunately, I soon became engrossed in those that followed. Straczynski provides a work that lives, becomes the writer’s world of writing, draws us in.

This is not a textbook, lists of advice or notes on how to write, and Straczynski is critical of such limited, almost mechanical, methods of learning to write. This criticism of other texts, workshops and writing classes is useful, but not definitive. Some of these features of the world a ‘becoming writer’ inhabits could well be useful. Where this book helps is in deciding their value though describing the short comings of various learning modes. However, I believe that there are alternatives that require consideration. There are many useful texts on scriptwriting, writing short stories or a novel, for example, and The Guardian UK organises seminars for specialist writing, run by published authors, publishers, and scriptwriters. It would be a pity to reject the available opportunities based on Straczynski’s dismissiveness. He teaches writing in a university course: so not all such courses are limited. What becomes apparent throughout the book is that a writer must use the available tools judiciously, critically and with the determination to write. Straczynski provides the questions writers need to ask about alternative teaching methods and their content. His method provides many answers on how to fill any void.

Several sections and chapters stand out. The concepts about characterisation are marvellous. So, too, are the ideas about using scenes, in books, television or films, effectively. The advice to remain current, to forgo traditional planning of a text, to reject the old notions that underlie some books on writing was powerfully argued. Straczynski made not only sense but takes the reader through some fascinating proposals and history to demonstrate how a process might work well in past situations, but be unnecessary, or problematic under new circumstances. Where there are injunctions about what to do and how to do it, there is an abundance of material to help the writer achieve the aims of this book – become a writer, write, and remain a writer.

J. Michael Straczynski’s Changeling script was nominated for a BAFTA and won the Movies for Grown Ups Award for Best Screenwriter. However, more important in assessing this book on writing is how he eventually arrived at writing the script from the ‘rough story’ he had in his mind. The process he undertook to achieve an award-winning script is personal but has universal application. The story he tells, and advice that permeates throughout that story, is enlightening. This is how lessons on becoming a writer are put together in this book. As I noted earlier, the invitation to learn to write through Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer book is one where advice and entertainment are mixed, making it an enjoyable as well as instructive read.

There is one sentence in this book that stood out for me, "stagnation is death." I often hear that a Writer is someone who writes, not someone who wrote, has written or will write- like a verb it's an ongoing thing and I love how the author sticks to this throughout the book. There are other tips and insights on editing, pitching, selling but what's key in all this is that you have to keep writing.
I also love that the format of the book is not in bullet points or made up of things to do- it is more of a narration of life lessons and you can pick and choose what stands out as you read along.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC. This is a book that anyone who writes would learn from.