Note: This post originally appeared on my discontinued website maartensity.com. The published date and time has been adjusted to match the original.
Raymond Carver's mentor was a famous teacher of creative writing, and here he gives no-nonsense advice for writers-in-the-making. It's up to the reader to decide if he or she has what it takes. Given Gardner's high standards, it might take some courage to respond in the affirmative ...
Finished chapter 5, "Common errors", today. It gives the amateur writer a thorough exposition of all-too-familiar bad habits. Sentences that start with the infinite form of the verb (“Feeling afraid Sandy switched on the bedroom light”), sentences written in the passive tense, lack of sentence variety, over-explanation, and many more faults revealed—sometimes with punishing wit, and often with near-religious fervour. Don't misunderstand: this is very good advice.
Edit: This book repays rereading. It is not merely a textbook, more like the advice of a stern, opinionated friend. He may not be popular for his views, but one day you will thank him, in your mind, when he has long since passed beyond the boundaries he outlined for you.
"Whatever his genius, the writer unfamiliar with the highest effects possible is doomed to search out lesser effects."
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