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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Maybe it’s just the timing, but I really, really liked this book. Brenda Ueland’s advice on work, art, independence, talent, inspiration, confidence and the creative process is so practical for me as I try to figure out what it means to be a journalist and a writer, and how to just sit down at the desk do it all. But I think that no matter what your line of work is (even if you don’t, as the title suggests, want to write) you’d probably like this book. There’s good, friendly encouragement and insight into how to calm down, live in the present, don’t avoid the work, and just enjoy it all because it’s what you were made to do.
She lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota (which, if you didn’t know it is pretty much the best city in the whole world), so I can imagine her entertaining at a house with stone steps on Grand, and talking with art friends in a smoky uptown cafe. I can tell from the book that she admired William Blake and Vincent Van Gogh and reading her writing – rambling, frank, dotted with footnotes and full of lots of old syntax and words like “splendid” (because it was the 1930s, after all) – is like having a conversation over afternoon tea in black and white with someone from “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
She paints pictures of things that I struggle with, like work and what to do when you actually carve the time out and sit down at your desk, and hope the words will come. And she explains it all so patiently and clearly that it’s not intimidating anymore, gently reminding us that, ”[This] is the way you are to feel when you are writing – happy, truthful and free, with that wonderful contented absorption of a child stringing beads in kindergarten. With complete self-trust…I tell you this because I want to show you that the creative impulse is quiet, quiet. It sees, it feels, it quietly hears; and now, in the present.”*
And when I think about work like that, it’s not so scary anymore. It helps me remember that I really do have the capability to contribute and do something valuable and unique if I’ll just settle down and focus for a minute.
Focus and presence without any fear is really the key, I think, to any kind of real communication or creative work – whether its making dinner, preparing a lesson plan, writing an article or just having a sincere/enjoyable conversation (as illustrated in the following story):
“Once driving around the lake by our house we stopped and looked at the sunset, a December sky. He spoke of ‘the gunmetal sky’ and looked for a long time. I felt some awe: ‘This is really the way a poet feels when he is moved.’ For I could feel what was going on in him while he looked at the sky, – some kind of an experience, incandescent and in motion. But I was living ten minutes hence in the future, feeling a little self-conscious and anxious to please and full of small compunctions, though I exclaimed: ‘Isn’t it perfectly wonderful!’ Well, Carl Sandburg was living in the present and having a poetic experience. But I was too full of other celebrations, concern about being a polite hostess and getting home on time to dinner…Incidentally, when you say perfunctorily about the sky just to talk: ‘What a beautiful evening!’ that is not poetry. But if you say it and mean it very much, it is.”
She had a few other very practical words of advice, like:
-Keep a diary
-Take walks
-Don’t hurry, because “...the imagination needs moodling, – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. These people who are always briskly doing something and as busy as waltzing mice, they have little, sharp, staccato ideas, such as: ‘I see where I can make an annual cut of $3.47 in my meat budget.“
-In writing, “...do not try to think of better words, more gripping words. Try to see the people better…the characters must come fully to life in your imagination” (which, if you think about it, is good advice for any sort of creative work – fiction writing, journalism, giving a speech/presentation, or just having a conversation)
-and finally, ”…the only way to write well, so that people believe what we say and are interested or touched by it, is to slough off all pretentiousness and attitudinizing.” (so true! and not just for writers!)
But I think my favorite part, and the most helpful bit, were the words on having confidence. Because I waste a lot of time worrying if my ideas are good, and second-guessing myself, and making apologies to my boss or coworkers before they even have a chance to check my work -
“We are too ready (women especially) not to stand by what we have said or done. Often it is a way of forestalling criticism, saying hurriedly: ‘I know it is awful!’ before anyone else does. Very bad and cowardly. It is so conceited and timid to be ashamed of one’s mistakes. Of course they are mistakes. Go on to the next.“
True, no? Like I said, good words no matter what your line of work may be. From journalism to laundry to writing, film editing, making soup or vacuuming – it helps to be present with quiet and confidence (which really comes with humility and faith, if you think about it).
http://breakfastinmoscow.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/brenda-ueland-if-you-want-to-write/
She lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota (which, if you didn’t know it is pretty much the best city in the whole world), so I can imagine her entertaining at a house with stone steps on Grand, and talking with art friends in a smoky uptown cafe. I can tell from the book that she admired William Blake and Vincent Van Gogh and reading her writing – rambling, frank, dotted with footnotes and full of lots of old syntax and words like “splendid” (because it was the 1930s, after all) – is like having a conversation over afternoon tea in black and white with someone from “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
She paints pictures of things that I struggle with, like work and what to do when you actually carve the time out and sit down at your desk, and hope the words will come. And she explains it all so patiently and clearly that it’s not intimidating anymore, gently reminding us that, ”[This] is the way you are to feel when you are writing – happy, truthful and free, with that wonderful contented absorption of a child stringing beads in kindergarten. With complete self-trust…I tell you this because I want to show you that the creative impulse is quiet, quiet. It sees, it feels, it quietly hears; and now, in the present.”*
And when I think about work like that, it’s not so scary anymore. It helps me remember that I really do have the capability to contribute and do something valuable and unique if I’ll just settle down and focus for a minute.
Focus and presence without any fear is really the key, I think, to any kind of real communication or creative work – whether its making dinner, preparing a lesson plan, writing an article or just having a sincere/enjoyable conversation (as illustrated in the following story):
“Once driving around the lake by our house we stopped and looked at the sunset, a December sky. He spoke of ‘the gunmetal sky’ and looked for a long time. I felt some awe: ‘This is really the way a poet feels when he is moved.’ For I could feel what was going on in him while he looked at the sky, – some kind of an experience, incandescent and in motion. But I was living ten minutes hence in the future, feeling a little self-conscious and anxious to please and full of small compunctions, though I exclaimed: ‘Isn’t it perfectly wonderful!’ Well, Carl Sandburg was living in the present and having a poetic experience. But I was too full of other celebrations, concern about being a polite hostess and getting home on time to dinner…Incidentally, when you say perfunctorily about the sky just to talk: ‘What a beautiful evening!’ that is not poetry. But if you say it and mean it very much, it is.”
She had a few other very practical words of advice, like:
-Keep a diary
-Take walks
-Don’t hurry, because “...the imagination needs moodling, – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. These people who are always briskly doing something and as busy as waltzing mice, they have little, sharp, staccato ideas, such as: ‘I see where I can make an annual cut of $3.47 in my meat budget.“
-In writing, “...do not try to think of better words, more gripping words. Try to see the people better…the characters must come fully to life in your imagination” (which, if you think about it, is good advice for any sort of creative work – fiction writing, journalism, giving a speech/presentation, or just having a conversation)
-and finally, ”…the only way to write well, so that people believe what we say and are interested or touched by it, is to slough off all pretentiousness and attitudinizing.” (so true! and not just for writers!)
But I think my favorite part, and the most helpful bit, were the words on having confidence. Because I waste a lot of time worrying if my ideas are good, and second-guessing myself, and making apologies to my boss or coworkers before they even have a chance to check my work -
“We are too ready (women especially) not to stand by what we have said or done. Often it is a way of forestalling criticism, saying hurriedly: ‘I know it is awful!’ before anyone else does. Very bad and cowardly. It is so conceited and timid to be ashamed of one’s mistakes. Of course they are mistakes. Go on to the next.“
True, no? Like I said, good words no matter what your line of work may be. From journalism to laundry to writing, film editing, making soup or vacuuming – it helps to be present with quiet and confidence (which really comes with humility and faith, if you think about it).
http://breakfastinmoscow.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/brenda-ueland-if-you-want-to-write/
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
This book is very encouraging to the beginning writer. Brenda Ueland writes in almost a stream of consciousness kind of way, earnestly asserting that everyone can write interesting and enjoyable things to read.
She shares a number of examples from her students to prove the point and go deeper. They are quite moving and impressive, and I wish I had had her as an instructor. Nevertheless, I can try and adopt the way she encouraged her students for myself. It's harder to do from an inner place, but her objective with this book was to make it possible for the reader to see their writing as valuable and be themselves.
While the general thesis, that everyone is creative and can write beautifully in their own style, is mostly repeated over and over, the book doesn't feel too repetitive, because Ueland gives examples of a few cases and exercises one can use.
1) asking questions of the writer. I think Matthew Salesses has this in his Craft in the Real World Book. Ueland seems to primarily use questions to encourage and get more from her students because she knows they have it in them. So, reading the book carefully, one has a model for how to go about this.
2) journaling daily about real things will help you find your voice and what you care about
3) leaning into your personal characteristics and moods will help you explore. If you are feeling cantankerous, use that for the writing that day.
4) write as if you are talking to someone. She believes when we talk and have an audience to consider, we end up speaking more naturally and engagingly without so much fluff.
5) read your writing out loud to see what you do and don't find interesting.
6) spend time being idle. Idleness helps remove cognitive blocks and distractions. Ot helps you have time to consider and curious and open your mind and emotions... or something like that.
It has some of the clearest examples of how to develop voice. I love how she emphasizes writing to your mood and feelings and just seeing what comes out.
The only two drawbacks for this book are that it focuses almost exclusively on what I would consider creative nonfiction or memoir and she often poo poos certain types of writing that she considers to be putting on airs and bloviating. The latter is confusing because what if what I really think is just kind of lecturing and talking to myself? She emphasizes being encouraging and focusing on what you like and find good, but then trashes certain kinds of writing in a way that sometimes seem contradictory. I get that she is trying to laud authenticity and assuage feelings of inadequacy, but it detracted from the more encouraging points.
Regarding imagination, she doesn't have much to say other than eventually it will come if you write enough and learn to just give into things. Perhaps the most salient tip was to not worry about writing the whole story or from the beginning but just what comes to you. Additionally, she recommended leveraging mood and idle time to help creativity blossom.
Overall very inspiring, and I am so glad that I bought the book. I would recommend it to someone who just needs to find a way to have faith in themself.
She shares a number of examples from her students to prove the point and go deeper. They are quite moving and impressive, and I wish I had had her as an instructor. Nevertheless, I can try and adopt the way she encouraged her students for myself. It's harder to do from an inner place, but her objective with this book was to make it possible for the reader to see their writing as valuable and be themselves.
While the general thesis, that everyone is creative and can write beautifully in their own style, is mostly repeated over and over, the book doesn't feel too repetitive, because Ueland gives examples of a few cases and exercises one can use.
1) asking questions of the writer. I think Matthew Salesses has this in his Craft in the Real World Book. Ueland seems to primarily use questions to encourage and get more from her students because she knows they have it in them. So, reading the book carefully, one has a model for how to go about this.
2) journaling daily about real things will help you find your voice and what you care about
3) leaning into your personal characteristics and moods will help you explore. If you are feeling cantankerous, use that for the writing that day.
4) write as if you are talking to someone. She believes when we talk and have an audience to consider, we end up speaking more naturally and engagingly without so much fluff.
5) read your writing out loud to see what you do and don't find interesting.
6) spend time being idle. Idleness helps remove cognitive blocks and distractions. Ot helps you have time to consider and curious and open your mind and emotions... or something like that.
It has some of the clearest examples of how to develop voice. I love how she emphasizes writing to your mood and feelings and just seeing what comes out.
The only two drawbacks for this book are that it focuses almost exclusively on what I would consider creative nonfiction or memoir and she often poo poos certain types of writing that she considers to be putting on airs and bloviating. The latter is confusing because what if what I really think is just kind of lecturing and talking to myself? She emphasizes being encouraging and focusing on what you like and find good, but then trashes certain kinds of writing in a way that sometimes seem contradictory. I get that she is trying to laud authenticity and assuage feelings of inadequacy, but it detracted from the more encouraging points.
Regarding imagination, she doesn't have much to say other than eventually it will come if you write enough and learn to just give into things. Perhaps the most salient tip was to not worry about writing the whole story or from the beginning but just what comes to you. Additionally, she recommended leveraging mood and idle time to help creativity blossom.
Overall very inspiring, and I am so glad that I bought the book. I would recommend it to someone who just needs to find a way to have faith in themself.
The messages that this book exists to convey are simple and straightforward. Brenda Ueland wants her fellow writers, artists and other creative types (which is everyone according to her) to know that they are "talented, original and have something to say." The book is meditative and inspiring, moving at a slow, thoughtful pace that almost reads like a diary. It is filled with writing examples from students in the writing classes that she taught and actually does contain a few pages from Ms. Ueland's own diary, used to illustrate the power of unselfconscious writing.
While I enjoyed the book and found my writing energies more focused and my editing mind somewhat silenced after reading it, I gave it three stars because I felt that it needed something more. Or, perhaps, something less. I'll explain.
As a craft book, it is sparse. There is very little information on how to create characters or a plot or a story. And that is no surprise since Ueland's main point is that thinking to hard about any of these things is destructive to good writing. She is a proponent of writing truthful characters, feelings and situations that come out of each person's "inexhaustible fountain of ideas," and to write a craft book in the standard sense would have gone against these ideas.
On the other hand, if this book is meant as a spiritual, inspirational piece of artistic writing, it contains too much. Too many examples of other people's writing, too many reiterations of the same ideas. It could have been half as long and I think that the message would have come across more effectively. But I did enjoy reading it and I'll be the first to admit that maybe I need to be bashed over the head with some things again and again before I'll really be able to put it in to practice and this book definitely did that.
While I enjoyed the book and found my writing energies more focused and my editing mind somewhat silenced after reading it, I gave it three stars because I felt that it needed something more. Or, perhaps, something less. I'll explain.
As a craft book, it is sparse. There is very little information on how to create characters or a plot or a story. And that is no surprise since Ueland's main point is that thinking to hard about any of these things is destructive to good writing. She is a proponent of writing truthful characters, feelings and situations that come out of each person's "inexhaustible fountain of ideas," and to write a craft book in the standard sense would have gone against these ideas.
On the other hand, if this book is meant as a spiritual, inspirational piece of artistic writing, it contains too much. Too many examples of other people's writing, too many reiterations of the same ideas. It could have been half as long and I think that the message would have come across more effectively. But I did enjoy reading it and I'll be the first to admit that maybe I need to be bashed over the head with some things again and again before I'll really be able to put it in to practice and this book definitely did that.
I've owned this book for a long time, but somehow never finished it. A few weeks ago, a friend gave me a new copy. Her timing was perfect. This book is consistent with what I know about writing and creativity, and it has affirmed that I am both a writer and a creative person. I have highlighted and made notes, and I plan to share quotes from this book with writer-ly friends. And although I am not generally a re-reader, this is a work I will open again and again for a creative nudge.
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
inspiring
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
I enjoyed the authors writing style and felt inspired by her teachings. It is a good reminder of a few things.
1. Not only is it good to slow down, but it’s imperative if you want truth to show.
2. Don’t compare.
3. If you think what you’ve written is boring, it is.
1. Not only is it good to slow down, but it’s imperative if you want truth to show.
2. Don’t compare.
3. If you think what you’ve written is boring, it is.