Review: Inspiring, witty and informative writing guide
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 14, 2013
In her light-hearted, personable way, Creativity Coach Bridget Whelan guides the beginning writer through a series of exercises meant to spark creativity. She provides useful tips, relevant examples and specific exercises to prompt creative writing. The information is credible and easy to follow and her writing is engaging, witty and concise.Because she addresses a wide range of topics-- writing descriptions, humor, horror--this book appeals to writers of all genres and all experience levels. I found her voice to be trustworthy and down-to-earth and her book to be packed with practical tips and prompts.Here is an excerpt from the chapter, "Descriptions That Multitask":" You are the reader's eyes and ears; you are their skin, their nostrils, their mouth. You can't tell everything so the few details you reveal have to reinforce the atmosphere of the story or add to the development of a character or contribute in some way to the reader's understanding."She then provides a detailed writing prompt with instructions and questions to stimulate your imagination. The book is divided into three terms, much like a semester course would be with chapter titles such as, "Become a Cliché Killer, Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid, No One Gets Tired of Once Upon a Time."This writing guidebook is inspiring, funny and insightful. At the end, she provides a practical step-by-step approach to writing book reviews for fiction and nonfiction. She leaves us with her best advice: "Write as much as you can about anything; Read as much as you can about anything." She also provides a list of writing resources with her description on how they may be helpful.I highly recommend this witty and informative writing guidebook for writers of all genres and all experience levels who are looking to break through the blank page to find their voice.