Writing BLUE HIGHWAYS

William Trogdon, who writes under the name William Least Heat-Moon, was born of English-Irish-Osage ancestry in Kansas City, Missouri. He holds a bachelor's degree in photojournalism and a doctorate in English from the University of Missouri. Among his writing credits, he is the author of Blue Highways, which spent 42 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 1982-83. William Least Heat-Moon lives and writes outside Columbia, Missouri.

In Writing Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon offers essential lessons that go well beyond craft: the power of perseverance, the potency of story, and the singular importance of honoring intuition. Students at all levels would do well to hear Heat-Moon’s hard-earned wisdom. An instructive, affirming look at the arduous and sometimes magical process by which an idea becomes a book." - Dinty W. Moore, author of The Mindful Writer: Nobles Truths of the Writing Life"In recounting the prolonged, often painful labour that finally resulted in the birth of his beautifully alive book, Heat-Moon provides far more illuminating detail on what’s required to write (or, more exactly, to write well) than any follow-these-steps "practical" manual....And as readers of Heat-Moon’s books know, one never regrets following his lead. Although Writing Blue Highways takes us on a distinctly different sort of journey - through more a mental than physical landscape - Heat-Moon again proves an expert and companionable guide." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch"Because Writing Blue Highways is a hybrid - part memoir, part how-to, and part cultural history - I think it will appeal to all kinds of readers. These readers will include, first and foremost, Blue Highways fans and readers of nonfiction in general, but I firmly believe this this is a book that should be on the shelf of every writer and widely adopted by teachers of creative nonfiction. It's fascinating, informative, and flat-out fun." - Ned Stuckey-French, author of The American Essay in the American Century"Any writer or writing workshop will find instruction and reassurance in this eloquent back story to Blue Highways, an iconic work of contemporary literary nonfiction. William Least Heat-Moon unfolds his writing process, from concept to reporting, notations to fitful drafts and ruthless revisions, spurred by readers and remembered advice from famous writers, all punctuated by the struggles familiar to any artist - self-doubt, rejection, despair, and determined regeneration." - Beth Taylor, Co-Director, Nonfiction Writing Program, Brown University"Writing Blue Highways: The Story of How a Book Happened is just the sort of text I've been seeking for my creative writing classes. It's a unique blend of memoir and advice, telling the story of a writer's process with wit, wisdom, and useful, often colourful guidance for writers at all stages of their careers. As he documents the development of his American road trip classic, Least Heat-Moon both instructs and inspires, showing how a deep and tenacious writing process can become a path to "resurrection, restoration, a return to a refigured and rebuilt life with rebuilt hopes." - Nancy McCabe, Director of the Writing Program, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford