Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #237377 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 236 pages

Customer Reviews

What a comfort!
GIST: A writer speaks on writing. STYLE: Anecdotal, a warm and sensitive approach. SKIMMING QUOTIENT: High, because chapter-headings are theme-oriented. But why skim? Material is intriguing. SUBSTANCE: Ms. Cameron has a gift for articulating the inner life of a writer's world --the concerns, fears, desires. While reading her book, I felt as if she were imploring us to transcend a mindset of concentric traps, such as: You're not a writer if people haven't agreed you're a writer...You're not a writer if you haven't been published...You're not a writer if, even though you've been published, you're not a best-selling author...You're not a writer if, you're a best-selling author, but can't write an equally momentous sequel...You're not a writer if, although you're the author of a series of spectacular works, your screenplay version hasn't been purchased...You're not a writer if, you've won the Oscar for Best Screenplay, but the award wasn't for the "Original" category, etc. etc. -- the boundaries of my mind just kept expanding as I read. Cameron explores fears and blockages, revealing with honesty and poignancy her own past writing struggles. QUIBBLES: As much as I enjoy her books, I've rarely found her (well-intentioned) sometimes silly New Age-y exercises, effective. I faithfully wrote "Morning Pages" (daily speed-writing in longhand whatever comes to mind, three pages worth) for two years, without seeing any real impact on my work or life. The cramping of my hand became an unnecessary chore -- a writer uses the hand daily to type or jot down; why exacerbate the physical challenge of our craft? Releasing subconscious "junk" as Cameron refers to it, is really an individual preference. I need to gaze at scenery, a picture of scenery -- or even read a quote about scenery -- for a few moments, to attain the sense of freshness Cameron asserts, rightfully, is integral to the creative process. SNACKS TO READ HER BOOK BY: pretzels, popcorn, tropical mix heavy on the chi-chi nuts, are ideal to munch on as you snap off a paragraph and chew it a while -- Avoid rushing. Cameron's insights are layered, healthy and enriching. BONUS BOOK: Reading a classic, Gift From The Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, on the beauty of balance in life, the importance of times of solitude leading ro renewal, creative rejuvenation, nicely complemented Cameron's book. As a female writer, I enjoy reading other women writers, and Lindbergh is one of my favorites.

Challenging Workbook Disguised as Feel-Good Writing Tome
Cameron has devised a great book with very useful exercises for those of us who want to write again. I was very surprised to find that the chapters really do open the reader up to these unexpected lessons. I recommend this to anyone who wants to return to the writer's mindset and remember what it's like to have a child-like mentality about this craft.

A happy book that gave me the go-ahead
to by-pass the angst and just write, for its own sake. Invaluable ways to bring out, listen and use the richness of life, its wonders, its horrors, and myself, my aspirations, my terrors and put them on the page. The core point (for me) of the book: writing is not a big deal, it's something that's fun, or more, to do. Julia's voice is so clear, so straight, so fluid. Well worth reading as a guide to living, for the value it places on making a commitment to anything that you truely care about and standing up for it. Wonderfully affirming of the writing life.