Writer's Workshop: Fiction and Non-Fiction: The Long Haul

"Ultimately, literature is nothing but carpentry. Writing is almost harder than making a table." Novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez may consider writing prose and poetry a comparative breeze, but the assembled interviewees here, including Fay Weldon, Janet Evanovich, Richard Ford, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Thomas Keneally, Nikki Gemmell, A. Scott Berg, and others, beg to differ. Produced by the Australian Broadcast Company (the other ABC), The Long Haul, one of six titles in the Writer's Workshop: Fiction and Non-Fiction series, devoted to exploring the writer's craft, looks at a wider range of topics than is suggested by the title, including style, first person vs. third person, and editing and rewriting, as well as the--Garcia Marquez's comments notwithstanding--blood, sweat and tears of writing. While all of the commentators are eloquent and perceptive (Fay Weldon's catty remarks on the "slack and idle" first person narrative stance adopted by too many beginning writers today ring both funny and true), the program feels unfocused (I often had no idea what the unheard question was that preceded each clip), while the almost purely talking head format (broken only by infrequent author readings with visuals of the book pages) makes this a rather tough slog at times. Still, given the subject, the audience, and the exceptional roster of writers on hand, this should be considered a strong optional purchase. The other titles in the series (series price: $695) are: In the Beginning: So You Want to Write a Story; The Write Stuff: Essentials of Becoming a Writer; Crafting the Story: Beginnings, Middles, and Ends; Creating Characters: The Essence of Writing and The Sharp End: Dealing with Writer's Block and Rejection. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)