Continuing with the third and final volume of reviews for my reading challenge this year:
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The Writer's Idea Book by Jack Heffron
So, at the end of October, I spontaneously decided to participate in NaNoWriMo, which is the National Novel Writing Month that usually happens in November. Hence my decision to dive into this idea book that I just happened to already have on my Nook account, downloaded from who knows when, because I knew I'd want to try to get back into writing one day. I'm planning to refer to this book throughout my writing process, since I have not seriously written in such a long time.
This book definitely has plenty of prompts to spark that writing flame. I cannot deny that. However, many of them don't apply to my specific situation, or I just can't remember enough, such as when the prompt suggests to write about something that happened at a specific point in your past. Especially since the memories of my early 20s always tend to be a bit of a blur to my mind. But the chapter that has resonated with me the most is Chapter 17: Minding Other People's Business. It talks about paying attention to the world around you, and letting those simple observations spark ideas for writing, such as a conversation that you've overheard at an airport or in a restaurant. I already do this, whenever I'm out in public, because of a writing teacher I had that advised us to use the things you hear people say, as a potential beginning to a story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and it has so many helpful tips and tricks to overcome the struggles of the writing process. I felt inspired throughout the journey of reading it, which is exactly what I needed to get out of it. And now I feel like I'm better prepared to dive right into my writing again.
[...] at some point, we must put away the books and sit down to write. There are lessons to be learned about writing that only can be taught by writing. -pg 336
Read from October 26, 2017 to November 15, 2017
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