Wonderfully outdated (it was published in 1972) there are some lovely slices of advice to writers of all natures, styles and ambitions.

While her chapter "Tools of the Trade" is almost completely irrelevant today apart from the very sage and only slightly stern advice: "If your grammar, spelling or vocabulary is weak, do something about it". But the numerous examples she gives of writers writing for the sheer love of it and the countless cases of professional and successful authors/writers knocking out thousands of words each week are still effective at moving a writer into action, not least because these guys did it by hand and we now have much more advanced technology than "the I.B.M. computerized typewriter".

I skipped some chapters but found a lot of value in the Fiction chapter, albeit short-lived as this is a very short and succinct but well-written book. If you're like me you'll also enjoy the her clearly despondent references to how "permissive" literature has become... The author passed away earlier this year so she will have seen this trend continue right into Fifty Shades of Grey.

I picked this up in a charity shop and read it quickly one Sunday afternoon, and for that it's the perfect book.