One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers
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Product Description
Product Description
Based on the Zen philosophy that we learn more from our failures than from our successes, "One Continuous Mistake" teaches a refreshing new method for writing as spiritual practice. In this unique guide for writers of all levels, Gail Sher
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was given this book 5 years ago, one of many "writing self help books" which I read at the time. Its impact was profound and long lasting.
It is a cool, calm but confident approach to writing as a daily practice which transformed my sense of self from "someone who wanted to be a writer" to "someone who wrote"
What it demonstrated to me was that writing was a part of my whole identity, no more or less important than walking, drinking tea and eating bread. Writing is just part of the holistic ecology of a writer's life.
Sher's "Four Noble Truths for Writers" are
1. Writers write
2. Writing is a process
3. You don't know what your writing will be until the end of
that process
4. If writing is your practice, the only way to fail is not to
write.
Very few exercises.
No daily affirmations or collages with glitter.
No daily targets to meet.
No dogma on structure or genre or format.
No advice on publication.
Just - You write.
Or not write.
And within hours of finishing the book I had started a daily writing practice which has continued more or less unbroken ever since.
It is a cool, calm but confident approach to writing as a daily practice which transformed my sense of self from "someone who wanted to be a writer" to "someone who wrote"
What it demonstrated to me was that writing was a part of my whole identity, no more or less important than walking, drinking tea and eating bread. Writing is just part of the holistic ecology of a writer's life.
Sher's "Four Noble Truths for Writers" are
1. Writers write
2. Writing is a process
3. You don't know what your writing will be until the end of
that process
4. If writing is your practice, the only way to fail is not to
write.
Very few exercises.
No daily affirmations or collages with glitter.
No daily targets to meet.
No dogma on structure or genre or format.
No advice on publication.
Just - You write.
Or not write.
And within hours of finishing the book I had started a daily writing practice which has continued more or less unbroken ever since.
Format:Paperback
I first bought this about seven years ago and it eliminated my writer's block. It's message is simple but it's not a book on Zen - it just draws on some principles which are distilled into the 4 noble truths. These truths by the way can just as easily apply to any creative outlet - drawing, painting, pottery - as well as writing.
I could go on but Hester Thrale's review encapsulates everything I would say and I fully agree with it.
I could go on but Hester Thrale's review encapsulates everything I would say and I fully agree with it.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
While I love writing and I love Zen I found this book particularly pointless and also very much in line with the "Women's Magazines" way of coaching their readers into doing new things, (in this case to write).
As such, the book proceeds at a very even pace exploring the different feelings and connotations connected with the live of a writer but no *real* content on *how* to actually be Zen about writing. - This emphasis on thoughts and emotions is actually very un-Zen!
I am really looking forward to the day that a good book about the Zen of writing comes out, but unfortunately it has not happened yet.
As such, the book proceeds at a very even pace exploring the different feelings and connotations connected with the live of a writer but no *real* content on *how* to actually be Zen about writing. - This emphasis on thoughts and emotions is actually very un-Zen!
I am really looking forward to the day that a good book about the Zen of writing comes out, but unfortunately it has not happened yet.
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