Some good advice, some rather dated for obvious reasons ("the professional writer should have two typewriters, a standard machine and a portable"), but on the whole, I can see why this book has survived. ( )

This book is not a technical book on writing. It is about unleashing the writer in you, focusing on your mind and your heart. Although, designed for the fictional writer, her instructions will work for nonfiction writers as well. But, I found it so full of fluffy writing that half the time I couldn't understand what she was saying. For that, I gave her only one star. The second star is given because around all that fluff she does explain exactly how to bring out the writer in each of us. I was surprised to see she had pegged my exact personality traits, which tells me I must have the same traits as many other artists. I took extensive notes. Now it's time for me to follow her guidance to freeing my unconscious so maybe I can actually write. Stilling your mind in quiet time is key for bringing out your creative thoughts from deep within your unconscious. She has motivated me, and because of this, I gave her the third sta ( )

All about what to do before you get technical. She gives a few simple exercises and stresses engaging the sub-conscious and the hard fact that writers write. The first book on writing that I read and don't remember how I found it. The mulling and stewing of ideas was also stated by JH and giving your view of the world in writing was also noted by SK. ( )

Written in the '30s but very much applicable to today's aspiring writer. Not a book on grammar and writing technique but more on learning how to utilise our unconscious mind in the service of our writing. Many of her techniques have been adapted and rewritten by other later writing coaches, the most notable being Julia Cameron over 50 years later. ( )

I read this for a fiction writing class I took in graduate school. The class was a lot of work, but it was likely one of the best classes I took. It inspired me as a writer, and I have kept dabbling in fiction since.

The book itself is full of ideas a writer can use. It is not a technical book or guide. The book is pretty prescriptive, and a bit strict (when compared to a book like say, Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones).Yet I found the book pretty accurate in giving me sense of my experience as a writer at the time. ( )