Trial and Error is Jack Woodford's most famous book on writing and the publishing industry. The book focuses on writing and editing and describes the behind-the-scenes machinations that result in the final publication of writing.

The book was instrumental in the writing careers of Ray Bradbury, Jerry Pournelle, Piers Anthony, Robert A. Heinlein, and Richard Lupoff.

The introduction was written by the founder of Esquire magazine Arnold Gingrich.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Cold Plunge
• Revision
• Taboo
• Ideas
• The Short Story
• Style
• Temperament
• Masquerade.. The Sex Element of Writing
• Treatment Stories
• Notion Stories
• Character Stories
• Follow Through Stories
• Theme Stories
• Newspaper and Magazine Features
• Agents
• Editors
• Book Publishers
• Plausibility
• Vocabulary
• Amanuenses
• Clinical Arcana: Liquor, Women and the Writer
• Author's Economics
• Excuria: Poetry, Plays and Other Perversions
• Matters Cinematics
• Warm Plunge: The Novel
• Splashing Around: The Novel
• Purl One, Drop One
• Completing the Novel
• Research
• Epilogue: Who Wants What You Write?

1933 books | Non-fiction books