Start with a Word: On the Craft and Adventure of Writing

A creative masterclass for aspiring and established writers alike

After decades of writing award-winning books on subjects ranging from poetry to art to liturgical seasons, celebrated author Marilyn McEntyre turns her attention to the vocation that has shaped her life. Start with a Word: On the Craft and Adventure of Writing is a literary masterclass that eschews drills and formulas in favor of close readings and refreshingly playful advice.

A veteran teacher, Marilyn understands that the best writing instruction doesn't come from rigid rules or rote approaches to filling the blank page. Instead, she demonstrates how the writers whose works we have enjoyed can become our tutors. She calls us to move beyond asking "What does this text say?" to a more revealing question: "How does this text work?" This shift in perspective--from passive consumption to active apprenticeship--transforms how we encounter literature and how we create it.

More than a how-to manual, Start with a Word is an invitation into a way of being that honors both the precision and the mystery of words. It offers short lessons on essential elements of literary craft, close readings of passages from a range of works, writing prompts, and, above all, encouragement for authors to find their unique path into work only they can create.

Marilyn McEntyre is the author of multiple books on language and faith, including What's in a Phrase? Pausing Where Scripture Gives You Pause (winner of a Christianity Today 2015 book award in spirituality), Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict, and Make a List: How a Simple Practice Can Change Our Lives and Open Our Hearts. She teaches writing at Western Theological Seminary and New College Berkeley and coaches writers.