[.ca] The Writing Life: Ideas and Inspiration for Anyone Who ... (ISBN 1591794021)

Comfort and Encouragement:
I was forunate to initially rent this audiobook on a cross-country trip. I listened to it 5 times in that week. I don't think, "I need to do my morning pages." I hear Ms. Cameron say, "Morning pages are mandatory". I hear the change of inflection when Ms. Goldberg says "Writng Down the Bones". You could read the instruction that finding a safe, functional place to write is a necessity or you can listen to the story about the cafe with the bad coffee and hear from the tones how important this factor was in the success of "Bones". Ms. Cameron tells a story about a walk in a dreary northern concrete and asphalt city and the inspiration she found in a single flower forcing its way through the cracks, one tiny and colorful thing living in a block of massive gray inanimate objects. Just reading the words would make this another self-help writing manual. The voices are haunting, inspirational and comforting. Yes, I bought the audiobook. Yes, I listen to it still.

Zen meets New Age....:
Natalie comes across a little better than Julia, who still has a lot of "issues" with ego and cliches.

Find somebody who loves to write and listen to them!:
"Artists are the antennae of the race." (Ezra Pound).. so quote the authors interviewed on this tape. Both Natalie Goldberg and Julia Cameron stress that writing is "a form of listening, a conduit that connects you to everything within yourself as well as to everything outside of youself." Therefore, writing is about receptivity. It's not always about the finished product but about the process. On this two tape set Natalie Goldberg and Julia Cameron talk about the writing process: What to do with the critical voice, specificity in writing, character development, criticism, jealousy, the use of morning pages, persistence and the willingness to show up. What qualifies these two authors to teach is not only their love for writing but the fact that they actually write. They are engaged in the writing process. They speak from experience not theory. The authors advise, "find someone who is in love with writing and they will help you!" Follow that advise and it will lead you to this set of tapes.