The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life (Artist's Way) - Softcover

Cameron, Julia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585420093 ISBN 13: 9781585420094

Publisher: Tarcherperigee, 2000

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review

Writing, for Julia Cameron, is neither solely vocational nor avocational: 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 like-minded 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 common-sense 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 can relate to 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

Review

Praise for THE ARTIST'S WAY...

"THE ARTIST'S WAY by Julia Cameron is not exclusively about writing--it is about discovering and developing the artist within whether a painter, poet, screenwriter or musician--but it is a lot about writing. If you have always wanted to pursue a creative dream, have always wanted to play and create with words or paints, this book will gently get you started and help you learn all kinds of paying-attention techniques; and that, after all, is what being an artist is all about. It's about learning to pay attention."
--Anne Lamott, Mademoiselle

"The premise of the book is that creativity and spirituality are the same thing, they come from the same place. And we were created to use this life to express our individuality, and that over the course of a lifetime that gets beaten out of us. [THE ARTIST'S WAY] helped me put aside my fear and not worry about whether the record would be commercial."
--Grammy award-winning singer Kathy Mattea

"Julia Cameron brings creativity and spirituality together with the same kind of step-by-step wisdom that Edgar Cayce encouraged. The result is spiritual creativity as a consistent and nourishing part of daily life."
--Venture Inward

"I never knew I was a visual artist until I read Julia Cameron's THE ARTIST'S WAY."
--Jannene Behl in Artist's Magazine

"Julia Cameron's landmark book THE ARTIST'S WAY helped me figure out who I really was as an adult, not so much as an artist but as a person. And award-winning journalist and poet, Cameron's genius is that she doesn't tell readers what they should do to achieve or who they should be--instead she creates a map for readers to start exploring these questions themselves."
--Michael F. Melcher, Law Practice magazine

"This is not a self-help book in the normative sense. It is simply a powerful book that can challenge one to move into an entirely different state of personal expression and growth."
--Nick Maddox, Deland Beacon

"THE ARTIST'S WAY (with its companion volume THE ARTIST'S WAY MORNING PAGES JOURNAL) becomes a friend over time, not just a journal. Like a journal, it provokes spontaneous insights and solutions; beyond journaling, it establishes a process that is interactive and dynamic."
--Theresa L. Crenshaw, M.D., San Diego Union-Tribune

"If you really want to supercharge your writing, I recommend that you get a copy of Julia Cameron's book THE ARTIST'S WAY. I'm not a big fan of self-help books, but this book has changed my life for the better and restored my previously lagging creativity."
--Jeffrey Bairstow, Laser Focus World

"Working with the principle that creative expression is the natural direction of life, Cameron developed a three month program to recover creativity. THE ARTIST'S WAY shows how to tap into the higher power that connects human creativity and the creative energies of the universe."
--Mike Gossie, Scottsdale Tribune

"THE ARTIST'S WAY is the seminal book on the subject of creativity and an invaluable guide to living the artistic life. Still as vital today--or perhaps even more so--than it was when it was first published in 1992, it is a provocative and inspiring work. Updated and expanded, it reframes THE ARTIST'S WAY for a new century."
--Branches of Light

"THE ARTIST'S WAY has sold over 3 million copies since its publication in 1992. Cameron still teaches it because there is sustained demand for its thoughtful, spiritual approach to unblocking and nurturing creativity. It is, dare we say, timeless."
--Nancy Colasurdo, FOXBusiness

Praise for VEIN OF GOLD, the second volume in the ARTIST'S WAY trilogy

"For those seeking the wellspring of creativity, this book, like its predecessor, is a solid gold diving rod."
--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Edition details

• Publisher: Tarcherperigee
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 1585420093
• ISBN 13: 9781585420094
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256