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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Haven't read this cover to cover but it is proving useful as a resource in guiding young writers.
This book felt very much like taking a discussion course with a beloved professor. Like, some of the things said don't always sit right, but the overall vibe is good and this teacher wants you to succeed. It did make me want to write more, honestly! My favorite advice is always anyone who tells you not to bother being ashamed of your first drafts.
This is an amazing book, one of the most inspiring I have ever read.
A writing book more in the vein of Writing Down the Bones than that Stephen King book. It inspired me to write something, which I haven't done for ages, so $12.99 well spent.
informative
slow-paced
It maybe unfair to give this book only three stars when I have given others four but I read the others first and this seemed very much the same as other books I have read. I enjoyed it. I learned from it but I don't think I will read it again.
Not my favorite ‘how to write’ books, but still valuable. I enjoyed Writing Down the Bones and On Writing a lot more. At times it is judgmental and over expounds. I appreciated her respect for Russian authors, for they too are my favorite. It was delightful to read excerpts from accomplished writers and creators and read their opinion on the arts. There were many good tips about being creative and letting yourself speak the truth, but those points were also illustrated in the other two books. The footnotes bothered me more than they should, this may have been due to how the kindle version was transcribed. All in all I am happy the book was only $0.99 in the kindle store.
This is a great book on writing. The thoughts made sense to me and each insight was inspiring. Highly recommend it for creative types, especially the audiobook read by actress Pat Carroll, who most would recognize as the voice of Ursula in Disney's The Little Mermaid.
Constantly, I fall into reading books about writing without having read any other book by the author (John Gardner, Stephen King, and now Brenda Ueland, to name a few off the top of my head). I won't mince words, I really like reading books about writing, not for "tips and tricks" or secrets, but to catch some of the light coming off of the authors, some little shards of passion, and also to see what drives other writers to, well, write. I loved the books on writing that I read by both of the aforementioned authors as well, On Becoming a Novelist and On Writing, and while I definitely would recommend both books, If You Want to Write presents itself as just as inspiring and helpful, if not more so. In this book, Brenda writes about the origin of Inspiration and some of the things that will stifle it, a lot of things in fact. But "getting inspiration" to write is not such a big deal after all. So often it seems like people are waiting for the fabled Lightning Bolt of Inspiration, when, Brenda says, all they really need is to invite the inspiration by positioning yourself intentionally and it will come. Not Lightning-Bolt style, but slowly. Where some books on writing talk about writing and it's all very delightful but there isn't a whole lot you can do besides get caught up in the excitement and then sit down only to find it didn't really affect your writing "ability," If You Want to Write is more practical. Brenda sits down with you and says yes, you can write wonderful things and true things, unique things because you are unique and your inner self knows what if true if you let it speak. The encouragement and insight poured out in this little book have not been Inspiration, but have shown me how to find my own Inspiration, and that is a gift that won't change or fade.