The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear
by Ralph Keyes

The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear
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Book Summary Information

Author: Ralph Keyes
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-10-01
ISBN: 0805074678
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Book Reviews of The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear

Book Review: Start with this one
Summary: 5 Stars

I suggest anyone even contemplating a writing career or avocation should read this book first. Keyes pulls no punches, but tells it pretty much as it is: a lonely activity with little assurance of recognition or financial security. But he goes into why people write, and what traits are probably part of their personality. The reasons why people write are not always flattering: the desire for revenge of an "I'll show 'em" kind; the desire for a form of immortality; and sometimes raw ego. Still, writers are human and even though they may sometimes try to change the world with their writing, they shouldn't be held to a higher standard that most other professionals. Writing does take courage because if you write with authenticity you expose yourself, and yet that self is vulnerable to criticism or outright rejection, not only by publishers, but by family members or readers, your life-blood. Keyes touches on all the things that have haunted me over the years, when I resisted the desire to risk everything in pursuit of a career that had no guarantees.

I could talk about this book at great length, but maybe I should save the effort for my own project. I rate this book very highly. It's encouraging while disillusioning; it's hopeful and optimistic even while it rubs your nose in reality. Read this book first, all of you writer wannabes, and I'll be surprised if you don't re-read it at low points on your path. It is not a book that shows you how to write, but gives you motives and insights for actually sitting down and writing. The author has a readable style and his quotes from various professional writers will remind you that you're not alone in your fears that lead to finding excuses to delay writing. Most writers dread the task of writing, but enjoy tremendously the fact of having written. Sometimes you feel this joy when you've done something well, but between the beginning and the ending there's many a hard slog uphill. After reading this book, I thought I might buy another of his works. I think you will, too.

Summary of The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear

Katherine Anne Porter called courage "the first essential" for a writer. "I have to talk myself into bravery with every sentence," agreed Cynthia Ozick, "sometimes every syllable." E. B. White said he admired anyone who "has the guts to write anything at all."An author who has taught writing for more than thirty years, Ralph Keyes assures readers that anxiety is felt by writers at every level and can be harnessed to produce honest and disciplined work., Keyes offers specifics on how to make the best use of writers' workshops and conferences and how to handle criticism of works in progress; he also exposes the most common "false fear busters" (needing new equipment, a better setting, a new agent). Throughout, he includes the comments of many accomplished writers--Pat Conroy, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, Isabel Allende, and others--on how they transcended their own anxieties to produce great works.

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