Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method by Gerald Weinberg
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: January 2006
- Publisher: Dorset House Publishing
- Format: Paperback, 208pp
- ISBN-13: 9780932633651
- ISBN: 093263365X
Synopsis
Gerald M. Weinberg-author of more than forty books and more than 400 articles over a forty-year career-reveals his secrets for gathering, organizing, and discarding writing ideas.
Drawing an analogy to the stone-by-stone method of building fieldstone walls, Weinberg shows writers how to construct fiction and nonfiction manuscripts from key insights, stories, and quotes. The elements, or stones, are collected nonsequentially, over time, and eventually find logical places in larger pieces. The method renders writer's block irrelevant and has proved effective for scores of Weinberg's writing class students, who have collectively published more than 100 books. If you've ever wanted to write a book or article-or need a fresh approach to your writing career-try what works for Weinberg and gather your best ideas into beautiful stone walls. Gerald M. Weinberg is one of the most influential thinkers in computer science. Weinberg on Writing isn't a computer book, though-Weinberg describes his life and practices as a writer, enriching the text with more than 40 exercises appropriate for individual or group study. Inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame in its inaugural year (in the same class as Bill Gates), Weinberg's career highlights have included computer programming at IBM for Project Mercury (which put the first American in space), serving on the faculty of famed family therapist Virginia Satir, consulting for Fortune 500 companies through his firm, Weinberg & Weinberg, and teaching thousands of technical professionals how to improve their communication skills.Customer Reviews
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Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Methodby Anonymous
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July 05, 2006: Jerry Weinberg is my favorite author in the Information Technology field. I'll never forget where I was when I first read 'The Psychology of Computer Programming' as a senior in college. As a student just getting ready to enter the real world of programming, that book gave me about a 10 year head-start in understanding the mindset of software development. Since then, his books have always been helpful to me and have always shown keen insight to the core issues. As a writer, I was very excited about the prospect of learning from Weinberg himself his thoughts on the writing process. I was not disappointed. This book set me free as a writer. The fieldstone approach gave me the freedom to use many of the articles, quips, replies to e-mail questions, and other smaller writings as a basis for books. The basis of the approach is that instead of working from an outline or trying to write something from beginning to end, you approach the project like someone building a structure from natural stones. These are not the nice, neat stones you buy at the home improvement stores or stone dealers. These are the stones of all shapes and sizes that you find in the ground. When organized in the right way by someone who knows what they are doing, the result can be a beautiful and sturdy wall, home or other structure. A great benefit of the fieldstone approach is that writer's block is eliminated. Even when the streams of text don't come to mind, I can still write small thoughts. You don't have to search for the perfect opening line, or any line for that matter. You can write what you know and then re-write later. I also learned much about words and the power they have. I have started using more colorful and exciting words as opposed to the 'mushy' words that are very ordinary and boring. I firmly believe that one of the best and fastest roads to success for anyone is to write well. The better you write, the more exposure and credibility you get. I recommend this book to anyone who writes, who may aspire to write and also to those that are intimidated by the thought of writing. Readability - 5 Coverage of topics - 5 Depth of coverage - 5 Credibility - 5 Accuracy - 5 Relevance to software quality - n/a Overall - 5
Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Methodby Anonymous
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January 24, 2006: Two friends and I argued over the pains of writing while watching a magnificent sunset over the Pacific in Ocean Beach, San Diego. \ 'My writing is too short and to the point,' Patrick said. 'I should strive for bigger pieces'. \ 'Bigger and not to the point?' Eileen asked smirking. I chuckled, then felt guilty. \ 'More like I want to pull in and engage the reader, be less concerned about brevity,' Patrick answered. \ 'But every word SHOULD count,' Eileen said. \ This debate of 'enriched' vs. 'concise' writing seized me emotionally. I pulled a yellow 3x5 card and jotted down quickly the essence of what was said. \ 'What are you doing?' Eileen asked. \ 'This dialogue is funny. Its theme resonates with me a lot. I'm capturing it as a fieldstone.' \ 'Fieldstone?' \ 'I read this book by Gerald Weinberg,' I replied, 'in which he described convincingly how efficient it is to gather fieldstones throughout life (snippets of anything that carry energy for you) and later use them as needed in your writing.' \ 'Though I do notice fieldstones, I never remember them later,' Patrick complained, even as I was capturing that interaction--admittedly the first time ever I had prepared for such event. \ 'Weinberg addresses that with the 5-second rule.' I proceeded to reveal a handful of Weinberg's secrets. Both friends were now focused on me, not the sunset. Their inquisitiveness fueled the energy I felt about the fieldstone. \ At that time, I had no idea how I would use that dialogue until four days later I decided to write a review on Weinberg's book. I decided to use that very fieldstone to capture the reader's attention regarding fieldstones. \ Did it work? \ I find Weinberg's method so convincing and practical that I'm surprised the publishers did not capitalize on the title acronym when designing the cover nevertheless, invest in this book, and I bet it will W.O.W. you!
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