While shopping in my favorite mega-bookstore, I drifted to the section on books about writing, and picked this one up because I remembered reading a recommendation for it. I loved the long, long subtitle: "Discover the confidence & passion you need to start writing & keep writing (no matter what!)" Between that, the nifty chapter titles, and a sense that this book covered more psychological territory than other writing books, I was interested enough to buy it.



I was right about the psychological territory. Instead of jumping straight into writing craft, the author covered commitment to writing and reasons for wanting to write, and was insistent about the need to actually do the exercises at the end of each chapter in writing, rather than in one's head. At one point she wrote that if the reader didn't intend to do this exercise, it would be better to return the book to the store and forget about writing. It was a good point - if I wouldn't do the exercises, how could I believe that I was going to write consistently on my own? I did most of the exercises, because most of them seemed like they would be useful, but skipped the lame ones. I'm not a total sheep.

At this point, you may be wondering why I keep reading books about writing instead of just writing, but I'd like to point out that I'm writing *too,* so :PPPP.

My point about this book - and I do have one - is that I loved it. Her point in writing it was to explain the importance of developing a writing life, with the commitment to write daily, and the support to keep going even when it's difficult. Her chapters on mentors, and ambition, were especially motivating for me - the former was about the importance of becoming mentor-worthy before wasting time on whining about not having a mentor, because you don't need one, anyway, and I thought the whole thing was spot-on.

Highly recommended! I'm going to keep my copy, and re-read bits of it whenever necessary.