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sondosia 's review for:
I'm definitely of two minds about this book. On one hand, it was inspirational at times and I appreciated Cameron's rejection of the stereotype of the "Writer" who has to suffer for the sake of art, and all that. Some of my favorite chapters were "Loneliness,"which discusses how writing can help with that; "Witness," which talks about writing as "witnessing" life; and "Containment," which discusses the importance of not sharing your writing with too many people while it's still in progress.
The New Agey crap, however, really got to me. Quite frankly, I found it ridiculous. Not everyone sees writing as some mystical way to become One with the Universe, as Cameron apparently does. The constant wordplay--an attempt to show how certain words "fit into" other words and therefore must be spiritually connected--is irritating to the extreme. For instance:
"No matter how secular it may appear, writing is actually a spiritual tool. We undertake it solo, and, not to be too facile with puns, it is worth noting that the word does have the word "soul" embedded in it. Moving alone onto the page, we often find ourselves companioned by higher forces, by a stream of insights and inspirations that seem somehow "other" than our routine thinking."
No thanks.
This sort of claptrap continues throughout the entire book. Cameron often discusses her idea that writing is just "channeling" some sort of higher power. And, in a chapter called "ESP," she explains that she believes that the universe "sends" you what you need when you write. She then offers the following suggestion:
"Name one topic on which you would like more information for your writing. For one week be alert to any 'coincidental' flow of information that comes your way."
Can you say "confirmation bias"?
Anyway, it's not that this takes away from some of the actually valuable advice that she offers, but it did make me want to fling the book across the room quite a few times. Take it as you will.
The New Agey crap, however, really got to me. Quite frankly, I found it ridiculous. Not everyone sees writing as some mystical way to become One with the Universe, as Cameron apparently does. The constant wordplay--an attempt to show how certain words "fit into" other words and therefore must be spiritually connected--is irritating to the extreme. For instance:
"No matter how secular it may appear, writing is actually a spiritual tool. We undertake it solo, and, not to be too facile with puns, it is worth noting that the word does have the word "soul" embedded in it. Moving alone onto the page, we often find ourselves companioned by higher forces, by a stream of insights and inspirations that seem somehow "other" than our routine thinking."
No thanks.
This sort of claptrap continues throughout the entire book. Cameron often discusses her idea that writing is just "channeling" some sort of higher power. And, in a chapter called "ESP," she explains that she believes that the universe "sends" you what you need when you write. She then offers the following suggestion:
"Name one topic on which you would like more information for your writing. For one week be alert to any 'coincidental' flow of information that comes your way."
Can you say "confirmation bias"?
Anyway, it's not that this takes away from some of the actually valuable advice that she offers, but it did make me want to fling the book across the room quite a few times. Take it as you will.