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agentgray 's review for:
If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit
by Brenda Ueland
I'm going to go against the crowd here. I liked the book. However, it was not as life changing for me as it was for the many who have read it.
This would have made a good pamphlet or even blog post. Why? It's repetitious. I do agree with Brenda Ueland's theory that writing (or any type of creative work) must be true to yourself. It's always your own voice that comes out the best in whatever you do.
I also agree with her assessment of critics. What really do they know? I cannot think of one critic who has written a phenomenal book, but I can think of numerous authors who have made good critics. I would take a recommended reading list from an author over a critic any day.
Positive encouragement and finding your own structure are things that are sorely lacking in our literary and educational circles today. It was a little bit of a shock to me that she recognized this in the 1920s and 1930s. Some things never change.
Well, I may be wrong there. In some ways I think we are too positive and self-affirming in teaching others. (Think children's soccer games where everyone wins.)
But repeating what I said earlier (yes, I see what I did there), the author could have stopped after the first couple of chapters. The rest are all affirmations of her thesis.
Still it's one of the better "how to write,"...er, "how to be creative" works I've read.
This would have made a good pamphlet or even blog post. Why? It's repetitious. I do agree with Brenda Ueland's theory that writing (or any type of creative work) must be true to yourself. It's always your own voice that comes out the best in whatever you do.
I also agree with her assessment of critics. What really do they know? I cannot think of one critic who has written a phenomenal book, but I can think of numerous authors who have made good critics. I would take a recommended reading list from an author over a critic any day.
Positive encouragement and finding your own structure are things that are sorely lacking in our literary and educational circles today. It was a little bit of a shock to me that she recognized this in the 1920s and 1930s. Some things never change.
Well, I may be wrong there. In some ways I think we are too positive and self-affirming in teaching others. (Think children's soccer games where everyone wins.)
But repeating what I said earlier (yes, I see what I did there), the author could have stopped after the first couple of chapters. The rest are all affirmations of her thesis.
Still it's one of the better "how to write,"...er, "how to be creative" works I've read.