[.ca] Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspirations for Writing (ISBN 1582971420)

From Amazon.com:
According to Monica Wood, every writer needs two critics: one who offers unconditional praise and another who tells only truth. Wood's Pocket Muse does both--"on some pages you get a pat on the head, on others a kick in the seat"--and more. Every page of this pretty little book is devoted to helping you "jumpstart a writing session, inspire confidence, or strengthen your resolve." There are intriguing writing exercises, thought-provoking photographs, offbeat quotations from writers, enticing unfinished sentences, mini writing lessons, quirky word lists, stories from the writing trenches, and a generous dose of encouragement. "Write about a noise--or a silence--that won't go away," Wood suggests. "Someone has left a note on a car windshield," she offers. Books of this sort are often forced, or cute, or more about spirituality than writing. Not The Pocket Muse. It is a lively, appealing companion for a writer in need of a good nudge. --Jane Steinberg

for the creative muse:
This is a great writing prompt. Basically this is an idea book and writing prompts to get writers started and get going in their writing. Between the prompts she also has pictures and written advice for writers, I really like this glossy pocket style book. Its great if you want to get creative and start out writing.

This Book Is a Real Treat:
It's filled with great ideas, funny pictures, sound advice--I really can't think of a better book that's small enough for you to carry around with you anywhere. Also, a good conversation starter with other friends or in the coffee shop. While flipping through this, I've come up with several different stories. Now all I need is a book to help me stay focused on one idea at a time.

Shuffling the Deck of Creativity:
"The Pocket Muse", despite its name, is not really small enough to fit in your pocket (although it'll easily fit into your backpack, purse, or bag). It has an odd black-and-olive color scheme that I actually came to love after a while. Black and white photos are scattered throughout, and they're quite well reproduced. Suggestions are presented sideways, right-side-up, at an angle, on (reproduced) tacked-up notes, luggage tags, and index cards. There are suggestions and exercises. Sentences with blanks to fill in. Ruminations on elements of writing. Little horoscopes you can apply to your characters. Quotes from writers that don't duplicate the quotes I've seen in all the other writing books! (Monica Wood promised this would be the case in the introduction, and to be honest I didn't believe her. I do now.) There's fire and enthusiasm, and a deep understanding of the writing life and what it takes to not only survive it, but enjoy and thrive in it. Her "ten commandments for a happy writing life" and her recommendations for handling rejections are spot-on. I have not a single complaint about this book, except perhaps that I'd like to take every single page and put it on a card in a deck. Then on any given day I could shuffle the deck and draw a card or two. There are a lot of things in writing books that bug me--bits of advice I don't agree with. Condescending attitudes toward new & developing writers that annoy me. Ways of approaching things that, really, everyone else has already done a hundred times over. Instead, in "The Pocket Muse" you'll just find lots of fun, bushels of inspiration, and plenty of things to think about!

Like a breath of fresh air . . .:
Like the popular "Little Instruction Book" craze, The Pocket Muse is a another delightful mini book that belongs on every writer's bookshelf. Better yet, keep it very close at hand, especially whenever you need to push your muse a little! Clever illustrations and photos accompany Monica Wood's writing prompts, exercises, mini lessons, cures for writer's block . . . more! There's a little bit of everything in this small package: humor, advice, wisdom, inspiration. Never stilted, never boring . . . always positive. I love it!

Excellent creative writing tool!:
This book is a gem! It should be beside all computers and typewriters! If you're having a bad day at the blank page, just turn randomly to any page, read or just look at the pictures, and WRITE. I have found that this book is a godsend for writer's block. It is also fun.