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  • C.S. Lewis and the Art of Writing: What the Essayist, Novelist, Literary Critic, Apologist, Memorist, Theologian Teaches Us about the Life and Craft of Writing by Corey Latta
  • Crystal Hurd
Corey Latta, C.S. Lewis and the Art of Writing: What the Essayist, Novelist, Literary Critic, Apologist, Memorist, Theologian Teaches Us about the Life and Craft of Writing. Eugene: Cascade Books, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-4982-2534-2. Pp. ix + 239. $30.00.

In an age which boasts a healthy abundance of help manuals and "how to" videos, self-improvement has become a contemporary art form. The topic of writing is certainly not exempt from this; in fact, professional writers such as Stephen King, John Gardner, and Anne Lamont have tackled the topic in their respective writing books, bestsellers all. Worldwide, writing guides are ubiquitous and, for the authors, quite lucrative. Popular "writing coaches" publish widely on personal websites and host writing conferences. Thus, there is perennial interest in works which discuss the writing habits of successful authors. Corey Latta's new book provides a rich, comprehensive overview of C.S. Lewis's writing life, with a generous dose of encouragement for aspiring writers.

Latta writes that the impetus for this book originates from a letter that Lewis composed to child correspondent Joan Lancaster, dated June 26, 1956. The letter outlines five tips which focus on "what really matters" about writing. These five tips emphasize the benefits of precision in communication—privileging clarity in all writing, using concrete words as opposed to abstract ones, using plain language, eliminating "big words," and (the standard writing mantra) "showing" instead of "telling." Latta's text is designed for the casual reader. Latta admits that in early stages of writing, he "planned to write an academic work—a systemic treatment of the correlation and development of Lewis's epistolary advice on writing and its stylistic expressions across different fictive and non-fictive discourses" (230). However, the book "wouldn't write"; therefore Latta shifted his focus from "a niche group of Inkling specialists to anyone interested in Lewis, the craft of writing, or any combination of the two" (230). Latta states that one of his motivations for writing the text was the woeful lack of work which addressed Lewis's "philosophy, style, or craft of writing" (2). Indeed no books to date delve into the critical aspects of writing style to the astonishing degree that Latta's work achieves, making it a valuable and unique contribution to the larger body of Lewis scholarship.

Divided into 50 small, digestible chapters and arranged chronologically, C.S. Lewis and the Art of Writing relates Lewis's writing style as it evolved throughout his life and experiences. The book's first section, titled "Of Endless Books," outlines Lewis's prodigious reading life, a habit in which no text was prohibited when the young boy was kept inside from a "damp Irish climate." Lewis's parents were both voracious readers. This early fondness for the written word blossomed into a love of writing, producing early childhood works such as Boxen, a collection of stories written by young Lewis and his brother which follows the adventures of an aristocratic frog named Lord Big. Using The Collected Letters as a guide, Latta [End Page 244] carefully and skillfully traces Lewis's reading trajectory from the earliest letters exchanged with his father and brother and to longtime friend and correspondent Arthur Greeves. Latta continually illustrates how Lewis's writing life was nourished by his diverse reading. His development as a poet, academic, fiction writer, and apologist is aptly preserved in his letters, as documented through Latta's exploration. The second section, titled "Looking for a Form" follows Lewis's long and labyrinthine journey to publication. This includes a discussion on the importance of daily writing practice, endurance against distractions to develop writing habits, and the substantial importance of feedback and revision (the process of feedback and revision provided by various Inklings is explored in Diana Glyer's groundbreaking exploration, The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community, 2008). Readers new to Lewis will be surprised to discover that he had experienced a...

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