num_pages: 480
description: The first comprehensive work on nonfiction as an art form  Shows how nonfiction especially how-to and self-help can take on the same power and luminosity as great fiction  Develops processes to reliably induce the dreaming state from which all writing comes  Teaches the skill of analogical thinking that is the core perceptual tool for writers  Explores the subtle techniques of powerful writing from inducing associational dreaming in the reader to language symmetry sound patterning foreshadowing feeling flow and more Approaching writing as a sacred art Stephen Buhner explores the core of the craft: the communication of deep meaning that feeds not just the mind but also the soul of the reader. Tapping into the powerful archetypes within language he shows how to enrich your writing by following golden threads of inspiration while understanding the crucial invisibles essential to the art of both fiction and nonfiction: how to craft language with feeling and vision employ altered states of mind to access the writing trance clear your work by recognizing the powerful sway of clichd thinking and hidden baggage and intentionally generate duende--that physical/emotional response to art that gives you chills opens up unrecognized aspects of reality or simply resonates in your soul. Covering some very practical aspects of writing such as layering and word symmetry the author also explores the inner world of publishing--what you really will encounter when you become a writer. He then shows how to develop a powerful and engaging book proposal based on understanding the proposal as a work of fiction--the map is never the territory nor is the proposal the book that it will become. This book written using all the techniques discussed within it offers a powerful experiential journey into the heart of writing. It does for nonfiction what John Gardners books on writing did for fiction. It is one of the most significant works on writing published in our time.
language: English
title: Ensouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer's Life
publisher: Inner Traditions