Cover via Amazon
I am in the middle of Writing Begins with the Breath. Now, I have a pretty large collection of how – to business and craft books on writing and its various manifestations (research, copyediting, copywriting, reporting, to name a few). I think I’m pretty set on bookish resources.
However full one’s library is, there’s always room for one more. I am very glad I decided on this book.
Laraine Herring is brilliant and insightful in her advice to writers. It is not a book on financial success from your writing career. Quite the opposite; writers write because we must. There is no other way of being. Writing is an art form. Where it takes you in life is largely a result of your relationship with it. Hard work is necessary, but secondary.
This book is quite unique in its perspective, and I have read a lot of books about writing.
Some key points covered in Part One:
Open up your body to receive and process creative energy
Be prepared to enter difficult areas within yourself that must be faced in order for your writing to be authentic
Have fun with your writing, but remember to be tough to shape it up as well
Write to discover what’s inside you, excavate the things that haunt you. This will reflect in your characters, make them real.
When we fight something within, we give it strength. When we embrace it, it no longer has power over us. Knowing this will free you for expression.
Believe you are making positive contributions to the world.
Hold writing close to your heart. When you feed it, it feeds you.
Think about your writing practice as a relationship. Personify it and make it a character in your life.
Be open to inspiration with humility. We can’t always pre-plan art and force a predetermined outcome.
Your writing contributes to the voice of humanity.
Shouting and judging create distance; speaking with someone, with empathy, creates a connection.
Personify your writing; make it a character in your life. Have a relationship with it.
There is not enough space here to go into more detail covered in the book. It has changed my perspective and relationship with my writing, for the better.
