wsj: How to Read a Book – and Maybe Write One:
Beyond the First Draft” is a collection of essays about writing. Because they are about writing, they’re also about reading. For John Casey, as I would judge for most good writers, it’s difficult to separate the two activities. One feeds into the other, and the process is repeated in reverse. No doubt there are exceptions, because there is scarcely a rule to which there aren’t, but it is rare to find a writer who wasn’t first, and for a long part of his life, a devoted and compulsive reader, though not necessarily a discriminating one.
[…] This is just what John Casey does in these essays, encouraging us to look more closely and intelligently at what we read and even at what we may be trying to write.
~ Allan Massie, in a review of John Casey’s “Beyond the First Draft”
John Casey, 75, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the University of Iowa. His previous novel, Spartina, won the 1989 National Book Award for fiction. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he is Professor in the English Department at the University of Virginia. In Beyond the First Draft he offers his essential and original insights into the art of writing—and rewriting—fiction. Find his new book on Amazon here: Beyond the First Draft.
Live & Learn 
very smart and thought provoking –
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It is. I’ve bought the book. Let’s see if it can continue to reel me in.
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For sure there is more to writing than just typing out the words. The editing and re-writing is a huge job, but it’s also the part I like best as I watch the work improve and take shape.
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Yes, a sculpture out of a block of granite.
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This words hit home. “it is rare to find a writer who wasn’t first, and for a long part of his life, a devoted and compulsive reader, though not necessarily a discriminating one.” I have always been a compulsive reader, but it’s only since I became a writer that I’m become a discriminating reader. Now I demand quality writing or I close the book and move on to another.
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I do the same Darlene. I won’t waste my time if it doesn’t grab me by the throat…
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This resonates with me at a very deep level. I have read all of my life–it’s not something I “do,” it’s something I must do. I have always had a fascination with words. Now, as an adult, to be able to earn my living with words? A blessing and a delight…. Thx for the heads up on this book, pal. Will check it out straightaway…. 🙂
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“It’s not something I ‘do’, it’s something I must do.” Again, so beautiful captured. This is me…so me.
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Read and write everyday. I keep telling myself that, but if can not write, I always read and all is good. Thanks for the recommendation and I will check it out.
– Keep reading … and writing, Michael
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Thanks Michael. I’m with you on that discipline. Right there with you.
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