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The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life |  | Author: Julia Cameron
Publisher: Tarcher
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $1.50
as of 11/25/2009 07:53 CST details
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Seller: clipclop7
Rating:  75 reviews
Sales Rank: 15015
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 236
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1585420093
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.02
EAN: 9781585420094
ASIN: 1585420093
Publication Date: December 27, 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Writing, for Julia Cameron, is neither solely vocation nor avocation: it is a way of life. It comes first thing in the morning, while the horses are waiting to be fed; it happens at the kitchen counter, while the onions are sautéing; it takes place on "dates" at café tables shared with likeminded friends; it unfurls in the mind as the '65 pickup "bucks over the rutted dirt roads like a stiff-legged bronco." The more than 40 brief personal essays that make up The Right to Write are an unyielding affirmation of the writing life and a denigration of all that gets in the way: busy schedules, procrastination, insecurity, lack of writing space, a day job--you get the point. Cameron's commonsense advice is liberating to anyone who has felt hampered by making a big deal out of writing (this "tends to make writing difficult. Keeping writing casual tends to keep it possible"), by not having the time to write ("Get aggressive. Steal time"), or the like. If you find a spirit that compares writing to revelation, prayer, and Zen pursuits, that might just attribute misguided communication to Mercury retrograde simpatico, then you will find much to embrace here. And you will never, never again dream of waiting for that commitment-free sabbatical in the south of France to get your writing project under way. --Jane Steinberg
Product Description
Now in paperback, the national bestseller that is breaking down the mythology behind the "writing life."
What if everything we have been taught about learning to write was wrong? In The Right to Write, Julia Cameron's most revolutionary book, the author asserts that conventional writing wisdom would have you believe in a false doctrine that stifles creativity.
With the techniques and anecdotes in The Right to Write, readers learn to make writing a natural, intensely personal part of life. Cameron's instruction and examples include the details of the writing processes she uses to create her own bestselling books. She makes writing a playful and realistic as well as a reflective event. Anyone jumping into the writing life for the first time and those already living it will discover the art of writing is never the same after reading The Right to Write.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 75
I Thought I Was a Lazy Writer Until I Read This October 5, 2009
Jennifer Barthe (New Orleans, LA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
For years I've been ticking away at writing but not accomplishing much and complaining plenty. I thought my problem was that I was lazy and incompetent. But that changed when I read this book. Julia really set me straight with the truth.
What I like most about this particular book is that the author shares how she personally overcame writer's block. She also discusses the topics of waiting for inspiration, learning from mentors, giving yourself permission to be lazy, writing about what interests you, and being patient with yourself.
What got me really stirred up was the section on letters to a young writer. Apparently a young and talented writer wanted to be published ASAP and was getting tired of waiting for fame and fortune. Julia told him to take his time and if he wanted to get published right away, then he should publish his work himself. He told her that self-publishing was for unsuccessful writers and that he wasn't interested. She reminded him that great authors such as Virgina Woolf were self-published in the beginning of their careers. The young writer changed his mind after she made that point.
There's also a nice section on why it's possible to write while holding down a full-time job. Plenty of people think they need to quit their jobs in order to have the time or energy to write. Julie let's us know that it doesn't have to be that way. She gives real world advice on how to manage your writing and your career.
In all, I liked the book and pick it up from time to time to read little nuggets of inspiration.
Good for new writer, missing specifics June 5, 2009
Cleopconsulting (Cleveland, OH)
I wish I would have had this book when I began writing. However, it did give some new ideas and new inspiration even now. I do recommend it, even though there are some important practical elements missing. Details. Still a worthwhile read and very inspiring. As all of her books are.
 On my yearly reading list September 10, 2008
Sunny
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
There are only a few books that I buy anymore because of personal budget cuts and moving close to a GREAT library. I finally decided to buy this book because every time I went to the library I would check and see if it was on the shelves (and check the book out if it was). This little book has done more to free up the writer in me than anything I ever could have done on my own. I feel like this book has helped me to unlearn a lot of those cold, sterile writing techniques I learned back in high school. Now I am writing with a personality!
Very pragmatic, common sense tips August 1, 2008
Jeremy Warren (New York, N. Y.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Julia Cameron's book is a valuable tool for anyone interested in exploring their creative potential. Her philosophies reach well past writing into expanding the real and imagined boundaries of life's routines.
"Each day, each life, is a series of choices, and as we use the lens of writing to view our lives, we see our choices."
(Julia Cameron "The Right to Write")
"The Right to Write" is briskly organized, with plenty of practical exercises designed to get thwarted creatives (Julia would argue that would include EVERYONE at some point sometime) to demystify writing, and the hyperbolic, foreboding mythology surrounding a writing life.
I was fortunate to attend one of Ms. Cameron's workshops in New York City. Her sincere desire to help writers "metabolize" experience into words on the page exemplifies her own hard-won "learned faith."
Thank you Julia.
The Need to Write November 13, 2007
Dr Bruce Hoag (USA/Europe)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Julia Cameron believes that everyone is a writer. Her purpose in writing this book, therefore, is to free the writer she believes is in you. I disagree with her assumption. We are not all writers any more than we are all dentists or mathematicians. As a writer and a psychologist myself, this is an important distinction to make because this book eminently describes many of the facets of the writer's personality.
In my experience there are people who think they would like to be writers, but always have some reason why they are not; and there are others who write because they need to do it for themselves. There is something inside of them that they have to get out, and it is best expressed through writing. I believe that this is why several reviewers have felt that this book could not help them. They weren't really writers at all.
If you have the personality of a writer, then this book will tell you a great deal about yourself - your feelings, your struggles, and your thoughts. It will explain the artistic temperament to you and help you to understand your own behaviors and fears. But, if you are not an artist in general, and a writer in particular, then this book is probably not for you.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 75
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