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42 reviews for:
The INFJ Writer: Cracking the Creative Genius of the World's Rarest Type
Lauren Sapala
4.17 AVERAGE
42 reviews for:
The INFJ Writer: Cracking the Creative Genius of the World's Rarest Type
Lauren Sapala
4.17 AVERAGE
I’m an INFP, and I still got a lot out of this book. When you do any formal schooling in creative writing, there will be a lot of focus on the technical aspects of the writing. There will be talk of structure, form, voice, tense, person, etc. etc. etc. All of those things are amazing, and you should absolutely know about them, and master them over time. The only way you can subvert the standards is to have fully mastered them, and know when it’s okay not to follow them. :)
That said, creative writing degrees and MFAs are not always going to talk about the motivation process, or what order you should write your first draft scenes in, or what to do when you have emotional blocks that make it horribly scary to put any words on the page at all.
The short essays in this book helped me analyze myself as a creator. They helped me conceptualize how I see the world, how I relate to it, why I would want to write at all.
The most beenficial messages I received from this first read-through were: the suggestion to write out of chronological order, and the knowledge that it is OKAY to not be perfect, to have a different writing process from other people. We’re all different, and acknowledging that difference as OKAY is crucial.
Some writers probably won’t need to be told to try writing out of chronological order—I needed to hear it, though, because of all the formal schooling and the need for 25-50 page segments of writing that are linear and can be submitted for creative packets. I lost sight of the options available to me—as a creative person, it’s okay if I don’t want to write the next scene in the book right now, but instead want to write a scene that comes in five chapters later.
I’m going to give this a try and I anticipate it helping me get more words on the page, overall. Ultimately, I would recommend this book to any INFP or INFJ writer, specifically the ones who have trouble showing up to the page. You need to hear that it’s okay to have a process that is different from other writers, and it’s okay to come up with your own process that will work for you.
This and other reviews by me can be found at www.annaimber.com
That said, creative writing degrees and MFAs are not always going to talk about the motivation process, or what order you should write your first draft scenes in, or what to do when you have emotional blocks that make it horribly scary to put any words on the page at all.
The short essays in this book helped me analyze myself as a creator. They helped me conceptualize how I see the world, how I relate to it, why I would want to write at all.
The most beenficial messages I received from this first read-through were: the suggestion to write out of chronological order, and the knowledge that it is OKAY to not be perfect, to have a different writing process from other people. We’re all different, and acknowledging that difference as OKAY is crucial.
Some writers probably won’t need to be told to try writing out of chronological order—I needed to hear it, though, because of all the formal schooling and the need for 25-50 page segments of writing that are linear and can be submitted for creative packets. I lost sight of the options available to me—as a creative person, it’s okay if I don’t want to write the next scene in the book right now, but instead want to write a scene that comes in five chapters later.
I’m going to give this a try and I anticipate it helping me get more words on the page, overall. Ultimately, I would recommend this book to any INFP or INFJ writer, specifically the ones who have trouble showing up to the page. You need to hear that it’s okay to have a process that is different from other writers, and it’s okay to come up with your own process that will work for you.
This and other reviews by me can be found at www.annaimber.com
I get that this book is highly specialized for INFJ writers/creatives (it me), and while there were pieces and chapter-ending writing exercises that didn't always feel especially applicable or necessary to me at this juncture of my writing and personal/professional life, I also haven't felt so seen since reading Susan Cain's Quiet.
This book isn't going to be relevant to everyone (especially considering INFJs are the rarest type, comprising only 1-2% of the overall population), but if you're into personality types, are an INFJ yourself, and/or are romantically or otherwise involved with one, I definitely think this book is worth reading for the myriad related insights into INFJs and what makes us tick.
[Four stars for being so full of pages this INFJ needed to read right now.]
This book isn't going to be relevant to everyone (especially considering INFJs are the rarest type, comprising only 1-2% of the overall population), but if you're into personality types, are an INFJ yourself, and/or are romantically or otherwise involved with one, I definitely think this book is worth reading for the myriad related insights into INFJs and what makes us tick.
[Four stars for being so full of pages this INFJ needed to read right now.]