Book Review: Writing to Change the World

Today I wanted to share with you a powerful book by Mary Pipher, Writing to Change the World. If you are at all interested in writing for any kind of social change, you have to get your hands on this book. Pipher discusses all types of writing from novels to news articles to letters to the editor. She covers both writing technique and how to find what it is that you are passionate about.

And Pipher knows what she is talking about. She wrote a powerful book, Reviving Ophelia, that changed the current thinking on what life is like for modern adolescent girls. Through this book, Pipher undoubtedly directly and indirectly saved the lives of many troubled girls. In Writing to Change the World, she discusses her previous book and how it came to have such a powerful impact.

If you are interested in having an impact through your writing, whether through a blog, a newspaper, a book, or a letter to your local school board, I urge you to pick up this book. It changed the way I think about my writing, and has encouraged me to (slowly) make some necessary changes.

image from betterworldbooks.com

Friday Book Suggestions: Writing

Today, I'm continuing the series I false-started back in November. I'll be sharing three fiction and three nonfiction books that have a common theme.

This weeks theme is writing.

Fiction:

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton

A novel about a group of women who overcome huge obstacles and encourage one another to write and find gifts they never knew they had. Spectacular!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Of course, most of you are familiar with this book, but it's interesting to reread the book with an eye especially focused on Jo as a budding and growing writer.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

This epistolary novel follows a young British writer after World War II, who discovers a community of readers (and a few writers) on the isolated channel island of Guernsey.

Nonfiction:

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

A beautiful meditation and reflection of the hows and whys of being a writer. Truly inspiring.

Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher

Pipher offers ideas and inspiration for changing the world through all different forms of writing including letters, blogs, novels, essays and more.

Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen

Since I included Little Women in the fiction section above, I felt this biography is a perfect counterpart on the nonfiction side. It demonstrates beautifully how Alcott grew as a writer and the relationship she had with her books and her readers.

Writing the Book You Want to Read

Have you ever wanted to read a book that just didn't exist yet?

"If there is a book you really want to read that hasn't been written yet, then you must write it."

-Toni Morrison

I've been toying with this idea for a while now. I have a couple of children's books in my head as well as a devotional for women. Maybe a novel, too? I should probably just pick one to start with. But I love Morrison's directive here. Not just that you might think about writing it, but that you must write it. Like that book needs to exist. Do my ideas need to be books? Will anyone want to read them?

What books do you want to read? Ever think of writing them yourself?

Elizabeth Gilbert on Committed

Here's a fun video with Elizabeth Gilbert about her book, Committed. Has anyone read it yet?

Literary Revlations

There have been a few revelation in the literary world this week that offer glimpses into the minds and inspirations of two of the 20th century's most beloved American writers.

First, my lovely friend, Katie, told me about some newly released J.D. Salinger letters. I listened to an NPR story about Salinger just after his passing, and the scholars who took part in the conversation wondered aloud if there would be additional writings released. Is the a harbinger of things to come?

The other was a recent "discovery" about a possible inspiration behind William Faulkner's novels. A plantation diary was recently revealed to have contained some character names and other details from some of Faulkner's best loved books such as The Sound and the Fury and Go Down Moses.

I'm excited to read more about both of these recent revelations. I've never read Go Down Moses, but maybe I should. Are you a fan of either of these writers? What do these new insights provide to you?

Blogiversary (did I spell that right?) Reflections

One year ago today, I began this little blog. And in a post or two, I'll be at one hundred posts.

I have mixed feelings about this blog. I read so many other fabulous blogs, and I feel like my little place here in the blogosphere is inadequate. I post so erratically, I wonder if there is even really a point. At yet, at the same time, I think of my blog so often, even when I haven't posted in months. So why the silence?

So here I am at the one year anniversary of my entry into the blogging world. And I am recommitting myself to blogging. And to writing in general.

A big reason for my silence for the last 2 months is change. The new year brought immense, frightening, exhilarating, and exhausting change. It all started when I got a job. It's a job that I never really thought I'd be doing at this point in my life, and one that I still have mixed feelings about. Nevertheless, I enjoy the work, and know that this is a temporary side-step toward my ultimate career goals.

The job forced me to reexamine and ultimately change my thoughts on what I want to do. And after a lot of reading, writing, reflecting, and discussing, I've become even more convinced that I want to be a writer. I still might want to do other things with my life professionally, but I know now that I want to write. I have a dozen ideas floating around in my head (and periodically landing in my writer's notebook). These are everything from children's picture books, adult novels, children's novels, non-fiction, and essays or articles. And yes, blog posts as well. I don't know what kind of writer I am (or will be) yet, but I know that if I want to be a writer--I have to write!

This job, however, has brought other changes as well. It brought me to a new city, (I LOVE Austin, Texas!), to a new apartment (which is still in dire need of some purging and reorganization), to a new church, to new friends, and to a new way of being independent. The job has given me a very new schedule, which forces me to prioritize my time in a new way, and made decisions about what is most important and how to fit those things into my life.

The move also brought me closer to my boyfriend. For the first time in my regular, daily, every day life (as opposed to summer vacation, spring break, etc), I am spending more than a few days at a time in the same city with someone I am in a relationship with. And it's brought more change that I anticipated. But all of this change is good, and it's forming and molding me in wonderful ways.

Because of all this changes, I feel like I am just now ready to make "new year's" resolutions and goals. I will write about those later today or tomorrow.

So happy birthday dear blog! My birthday present to you is a commitment. A commitment to nurture and put time into you as I would any other priority in my life. It's going to be great!

Finally Feeling Better (Unfiltered Post #4?)

I haven't posted in over a week because I've been feeling under the weather-with a fever that lingered on for 7 days!  I am finally feeling (mostly) better and so I am starting to catch up with all that I have been neglecting.  Clearly, my unfiltered blogging posts dropped off, but I think this will be my fourth.

Unfortunately when I wasn't feeling well, I still didn't get much reading done.  I would like to have finished more books that I have by now.  I still have most of One Hundred Years of Solitude to read, and I've started a few others.  Right now, I am also working through two workbooks on Spanish, as well as couple of additional job search related books.  Finally, I am also reading a book about online genealogy research.  And, of course, still working my way through The Artist's Way.  I am continuing to enjoy and benefit from the writing I'm doing as part of The Artist's Way program.  Morning Pages are a wonderful tool.  Does anyone else use them?  I confess that I am not on a regular schedule for them yet, and still miss some days, but I am getting to them more often than not, which is a big step in the right direction.  

This week, I will try to get back on a more regular reading and writing schedule.  I need to spend some extra time brainstorming for the book I'll write some day.  

Does anyone else have book-writing aspirations?  What progress have you made?  Any suggestions?

Watching in Detail

Unfiltered blog post #3.  Sadly, I missed yesterday, so it won't be five days in a row, but it will still be five days.

Because of my morning pages, this unfiltered blogging endeavor, and the resulting idea that I might write a book someday, my thoughts have been filled by writing as of late.  Today I went on my "artist's date" (one of The Artist's Way tools) to Borders just to browse (which is quite a feat for me).  I spent some time looking at the bargain shelves-I couldn't resist.  Then I went upstairs and I looked through the children's section.  I concentrated mainly on picture books, particularly looking for books I hadn't seen or read before.  Then I went over to the writing section to peek at those books.  I thumbed through a few that I may buy later, but for now I already have 2-3 books on writing more prolifically and improving your craft, so I resisted for the time being.  However, I did flip through a few and noticed a common theme.  It's something that echoed from what I had read in Pen on Fire and The Artist's Way.  One of the first things I need to do is pay attention.

That seems to be some pretty basic writing advice.  Pay attention to the little details of life and record them very carefully.  I can see how this is good advice for budding writers, but it is also a superb reminder for all of us, writers or not.  How many priceless details are lost in the course of a busy day.  Perhaps my next "artist's date" will be to people watch or even just sit outside (except for the excruciating heat).  

I am hoping that this burst of writing enthusiasm won't fizzle out too quickly.  I do tend to get excited about things, and then eventually let them fade into the background.  I don't usually give them up entirely.  I still have a guitar in my closet that comes out fairly regularly, Spanish books that I work through once every week or so, and watercolor paints packed up somewhere with my of my belongings.  Guitar's spark flashed again around January when I practiced carefully every day for a couple of months.  Spanish has come and gone for several years-some weeks I study every night and listen to CNN en Espanol on my satellite radio.  Others, I revert back to my beloved NPR.  Watercolors came last summer when I would paint many evenings, but never came to be satisfied with result. 

Perhaps I truly am a Renaissance Soul.  I like that idea better than having no follow through.  But maybe this new eye for detail with help me stay focused and maybe even bring clarity to all of these disparate interests and goals.  

Thoughts on Writing

Note:  Unfiltered blog # 2

Above is a book that I have been using as I have been thinking more and more about writing.

I've been thinking a lot about writing lately.  And I'm trying to figure out where it is coming from.  I've always considered myself to be a pretty competent writer.  I did well-enough in school writing papers, etc.  I didn't particularly enjoy writing endless research papers, but I did enjoy sometimes creating a truly great sentence.  Since I have no research or term papers in my foreseeable future, I've begun to think about other types of writing-and taking the time to improve my own abilities.

Perhaps some of these thoughts are coming from my blogging.  It's been a fabulous experience of putting thoughts in words and sentences for friends and strangers alike to read.  The whole process has been like an exercise in writing and communication.  For example, I have come to notice that I use certain words and phrases entirely too much.  The biggest offender is "interesting".  I use it all the time.  But what does it really convey?  Surely if I am writing about a book or experience, you can assume that it's interesting, or I wouldn't bother to mention it in the first place.  It kind of reminds me of the word that starts to drive me up the wall during every major political campaign: "compelling".   Whenever someone brings up a marginally controversial issue, the candidates inevitably refer to the question, problem, information, answer, or proposed solution as "compelling".   It's a handy word to show interest and concern without actually committing yourself to either side.  I noticed the use of this word in at least the last two presidential elections by candidates of both parties.  

I think it was Holly Becker that suggested making a list of overused words and to begin to look for replacements for them.  I need to start doing that.  My other overworked words and phrases include some of the usual suspects: "a lot" "it" and other words that lack both pizzazz and adequate description.  

So the blog has caused me to think about improving my words, but other exercises have shed light on other writing aspirations.  As I mentioned before, I am working through The Artist's Way and I am already gaining some clarity.  Although I enjoy traditional art activities-such as painting and sculpture-I don't think I have the heart or the talent to really pursue it in any capacity beyond "fun stress-relieving play" (which is certainly valid and wonderful).  But The Artist's Way has left me desiring a creative pursuit of my own to nurture and cultivate.  Since I am already such a lover of books and words, what about writing?  The Morning Pages associated with The Artist's Way have been extremely instrumental in this process.  Even after only a week (with a day or two skipped), I am already seeing ideas and dreams emerge.  Come to think of it, this "unfiltered" blogging feels a lot like Morning Pages.  

There are certain things in your life that it just never occurs to you to try.  At least for me.  I have no desire to run for public office, try for a record deal, or star in a movie (although I enjoy politics, music, and film respectively).  Writing a book was always right up there with competing in the Olympics or getting a PhD (the former I could clearly never do-I didn't make the 7th grade volleyball team-and the latter is something others have suggested, but it's never been a goal or desire of mine.  I think I'll stick with the Masters).  I don't mean this to seem like a lack of ambition, just a different channeling of it.  There are still many fairly lofty goals that I have for my life, just not in these particular areas.  (I realize these accomplishments aren't all really on par with one another, but it's the best I could do without breaking my "unfiltered" aim for this post).  All of this to say it never occurred to me that I wanted to or could write a book and actually get it published.  I'm still working on the "could" part, I am starting to think that this is something I really want to do.  I included it on my "bucket list" a few months ago, much to my own surprise.  At this point I have no idea what kind of book I want to write or what it would be about.  I don't think a novel appeals to me, but maybe something non-fiction?  Or a children's book?!?  That would be outstanding!  (outstanding is one of my new pet words- I'm still trying it out).  On side note, another goal I never thought I'd have for myself is forming: to start an organization, specifically a non-profit.  Again, I don't know exactly what it would be yet, but it's making its way onto some lists.  Thoughts for another day and another post...

Well, now I have shared this idea with real people, so I can't really forget about it.  It's not something I'm planning on pursuing immediately, but I'm definitely going to let the concept percolate as I work on some ideas.  I already have a couple of characters in mind for a children's book.

P.S.  Another huge word of thanks to Carolyn for the idea of unfiltered blogging.  It's already led to some interesting-gah!-surprising places.  And for the record, this accomplished woman has started a successful non-profit, written a book that is on track to be published this summer, and is working toward a PhD.  What an inspiration.