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Seven Steps on the Writer's Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment
The blank page, the impossible deadline, the rush of There is no profession more maddening or more rewarding than being a writer. Yet surprisingly, all writers pass through the same sequence of stages in the course of their careers. It was this remarkable insight that inspired veteran authors Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott to write one of the wisest and liveliest guides to the literary life ever penned— a volume of astonishing revelation, warm reassurance, brilliant encouragement, and welcome humor. No matter what you write or how much recognition you’ve received, you are bound to pass through the seven steps on the writer’s Unhappiness, Wanting, Commitment, Wavering, Letting Go, Immersion, and Fulfillment.
Whether you’re a wannabe writer or a published literary veteran, you’re bound to find this book a source of true delight, vital wisdom, and lasting inspiration.
Whether you’re a wannabe writer or a published literary veteran, you’re bound to find this book a source of true delight, vital wisdom, and lasting inspiration.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
13 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Pickard
110 books349 followersNancy Pickard is an American crime novelist. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and began writing at age 35.
She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.
She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.
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September 6, 2016
While I did get some good information and strategies from this book, and I can appreciate it might work well for others, there was too much mysticism for me, plus what I consider to be unconscionably reckless mental health advice.
What worked:
I wanted some strategies for dealing with a bloody annoying project that has been the bane of my life for over a year now, and I want it finished and gone, and yet I am stuck fast. The book did help with this. I identified that I’m wavering because the other person I’m doing the project with is someone I admire, and I am afraid they will realise what a piece of crap I am. However I also identified that by being stuck I have already alerted them to my crapness, and now I can just finish this crappily; the key word here being finish.
(EDIT: 18 August 2013 and I want to sing from the rooftops that I finished that bloody project! Ugh, that was so hard. At the end there it took me literally two and a half days sitting in front of my computer and psychically bleeding from every pore to write just the final 5 paragraphs: 308 words. But I finished, and the stages of writing in this book honestly helped a lot.
But look: see this pic?
These are my anti-depressants: there are many like them but these ones are mine. They do not impair my ability to write. They do not sap my creativity. There is no shame in requiring them. They prevent me lying in bed all day because life does not seem worth getting up for, and worse. I can't emphasize strongly enough the importance of ignoring that part of this book (see below).)
What didn’t:
Problem number one is that the authors subscribe to the mystic universe theory, where your consciousness determines your events.
When one of the early winners of the Survivor television show won the million-dollar prize, she said she had “always” known she would, and that weeks before she was even selected to be a contestant, she had put a winning message up on her computer at work so she would see it every day.
Yes, that's lovely. Now count the number of people who put a winning message on their computer so they would see it every day, and who didn't get an audition, didn't get on the show, and didn't win. The belief has no causal relationship to the winning.
Apparently, until you're "ready," or "let go," success in putting the words onto the page will not come to you. You have to demonstrate your commitment to the craft. The authors’ examples include a woman who took a second mortgage on her house to attend a writer's workshop¹, and another who cancelled all her work clients so she would be forced to "commit" to writing.
Committing, here, means behaving like Lisa, a single mom and lawyer, who:
" . . . decided to risk it all in the service of becoming a novelist. She left her firm and lived on credit cards, vowing not to stop unless she reached fifty thousand dollars in debt. She reached it. She kept going anyway. When her creditors were sending their third notices and she was afraid she’d risked so much for nothing, her first book sold. She’s now a New York Times best-selling author . . . Lisa is a dramatic example of somebody who let go of what she had in order to try for what she wanted."
This is recklessly poor financial advice to go next to the recklessly poor mental health advice we're about to get to in a minute. For every Lisa there are a hundred mortgagee sales. The authors state they don’t recommend going as far as Lisa, but this is clearly bullshit: they’re holding her example out as inspiration to struggling writers. I'd like to point out here that Anthony Trollope wrote his books by getting up early and writing for three hours a day before he went to his day job.
Writing is work that has a fatal glamor. If Lisa wanted to be a cabinet maker, would the authors be saying, "Sure, sacrifice your and your child's financial stability because you have a drive to make things from wood"?
I’m not a fiction writer, obvy. And I have a good job right now. But I have had a lot of lean years. I believe financial security is freedom. This does not mean having a lot of stuff. It means not having very much, but being able to pay for it. The less you can live on, the more freedom you have to cut back work hours to spend that time on what is important to you, whatever that may be. Going into debt is not freedom: it is a yoke around your neck for the rest of your life.
However, all that is nothing compared to the example of Nancy. Nancy is one of the authors of this book. Nancy believes that truly experiencing the wonders of mental illness is a glorious part of letting go, and will free you as a writer.
"I was desperate, broke, and sick. I was so frightened of losing everything.“
She became depressed but was afraid to seek medication because she didn’t want to mask her feelings or lose her resolve.
Instead, Nancy was determined to “ride these awful feelings all the way down to the bottom of the well” although she didn’t know “whether she’d live long enough to make the descent.”
“There was a day when I felt so ill and had felt so bad for so long that I actually wrote out a list of what my survivors should do after my death.”
“I thought, no, I’ve come this far . . . I have to go on to the end; I just have to . . . And then I finally gave up. I wept. I let go entirely. It didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel like a great relief. But I finally and fully surrendered to whatever might happen.” She went to bed that night feeling utterly defeated and without hope.
Through the miracle of ‘letting go,’ the next morning Nancy was able to write:
“For the first time in my life, I felt a physical sensation of being pulled from my solar plexus. It was the most gentle, subtle tug, but it was there, and it was real. I let it lead me to the couch in my family room; I picked up a pen and paper, and I—who had never written my books or stories on anything but a typewriter or a computer—wrote thirty-six pages in longhand, starting from the place where my book had halted months earlier.”
And here’s how Nancy and Lynn discuss this period in Nancy’s life (all emphases mine).
Think what might have happened if Nancy’s friend had suggested she see a doctor for her condition and the doctor had prescribed antidepressants . . . We are convinced that the creative process requires a good bit of discomfort, but we have faith in you to endure and push through it. We think you will feel worse if, instead of letting go, you choose to fall back into the false security of the status quo and live with less than you could have if you let go. Lynn sees this every day in her therapy practice. Many of her clients would prefer to be diagnosed with an “illness” and take drugs rather than do the work of living, taking the necessary risks required to ensure growth instead of a slow death. But if they stick it out as Nancy did, they learn how to let go, feel the release, and enjoy the ride.
If you can’t find the want and willpower to defeat, trick, or somehow get through, by, or around your guardians of the threshold, you will not be able to continue to the end of your writing project..
Look, I’m just some chick writing a review on the internet, but listen to me and DO NOT listen to these authors.When Before you feel so terrible that you are writing a list for people for after your death you go out and find yourself some affordable medical care IMMEDIATELY and tell an experienced and qualified person how you are feeling and that this is what you are doing. If they prescribe you anti-depressants you take them for at least six weeks before you consider stopping, and only after discussing with your medical practitioner.
Chemical imbalances in your brain are not something you should “stick out,” “ride through,” or use “want and willpower to defeat.” Depression will not end if you have enough “resolve.” At best it will suck the life from your days and the will from every muscle. At worst that shit will Fucking. Kill. You.
Taking anti-depressants will not inherently remove your ability to write or feel.
Nancy says, “I wasn’t suicidal. That was my benchmark. If I descended that far, I would know I’d gone too far.”
Well a) the list you wrote to your survivors begs to differ and b) at that point you are well past the ability to judge your mental health.
Get help long before getting to the point of wondering if this is the day you will finally be suicidal. Please.
After my massive emotional ranty rant, I’d also like to note that the authors hit a pet peeve by describing one husband as a "saint" because he "makes the beds, cleans the condo, and runs their errands and finances". A saint, rather than, you know, a contributing member of the partnership.
I did like the description of finishing a book as:
Like bursting through the tape at the finish line of the New York City Marathon, where you get accolades just for finishing, no matter what. But what if you ran those twenty-six miles, and when you stopped, the people around you turned their backs on you or criticized the way you ran the race or threw Gatorade in your face?
And this is why authors react so poorly to reviews.
¹ I’m not saying don’t go to a writer’s workshop, just don’t take on that kind of debt to do it. Sell your car and use public transport. Sell all your clothes but a pair of jeans. Save for two years. Go to a cheaper workshop. But don’t take out a second mortgage. As it turned out, the workshop sounds like a money-spinning con to me, and thoroughly discourages the writer.
What worked:
I wanted some strategies for dealing with a bloody annoying project that has been the bane of my life for over a year now, and I want it finished and gone, and yet I am stuck fast. The book did help with this. I identified that I’m wavering because the other person I’m doing the project with is someone I admire, and I am afraid they will realise what a piece of crap I am. However I also identified that by being stuck I have already alerted them to my crapness, and now I can just finish this crappily; the key word here being finish.
(EDIT: 18 August 2013 and I want to sing from the rooftops that I finished that bloody project! Ugh, that was so hard. At the end there it took me literally two and a half days sitting in front of my computer and psychically bleeding from every pore to write just the final 5 paragraphs: 308 words. But I finished, and the stages of writing in this book honestly helped a lot.
But look: see this pic?
These are my anti-depressants: there are many like them but these ones are mine. They do not impair my ability to write. They do not sap my creativity. There is no shame in requiring them. They prevent me lying in bed all day because life does not seem worth getting up for, and worse. I can't emphasize strongly enough the importance of ignoring that part of this book (see below).)
What didn’t:
Problem number one is that the authors subscribe to the mystic universe theory, where your consciousness determines your events.
When one of the early winners of the Survivor television show won the million-dollar prize, she said she had “always” known she would, and that weeks before she was even selected to be a contestant, she had put a winning message up on her computer at work so she would see it every day.
Yes, that's lovely. Now count the number of people who put a winning message on their computer so they would see it every day, and who didn't get an audition, didn't get on the show, and didn't win. The belief has no causal relationship to the winning.
Apparently, until you're "ready," or "let go," success in putting the words onto the page will not come to you. You have to demonstrate your commitment to the craft. The authors’ examples include a woman who took a second mortgage on her house to attend a writer's workshop¹, and another who cancelled all her work clients so she would be forced to "commit" to writing.
Committing, here, means behaving like Lisa, a single mom and lawyer, who:
" . . . decided to risk it all in the service of becoming a novelist. She left her firm and lived on credit cards, vowing not to stop unless she reached fifty thousand dollars in debt. She reached it. She kept going anyway. When her creditors were sending their third notices and she was afraid she’d risked so much for nothing, her first book sold. She’s now a New York Times best-selling author . . . Lisa is a dramatic example of somebody who let go of what she had in order to try for what she wanted."
This is recklessly poor financial advice to go next to the recklessly poor mental health advice we're about to get to in a minute. For every Lisa there are a hundred mortgagee sales. The authors state they don’t recommend going as far as Lisa, but this is clearly bullshit: they’re holding her example out as inspiration to struggling writers. I'd like to point out here that Anthony Trollope wrote his books by getting up early and writing for three hours a day before he went to his day job.
Writing is work that has a fatal glamor. If Lisa wanted to be a cabinet maker, would the authors be saying, "Sure, sacrifice your and your child's financial stability because you have a drive to make things from wood"?
I’m not a fiction writer, obvy. And I have a good job right now. But I have had a lot of lean years. I believe financial security is freedom. This does not mean having a lot of stuff. It means not having very much, but being able to pay for it. The less you can live on, the more freedom you have to cut back work hours to spend that time on what is important to you, whatever that may be. Going into debt is not freedom: it is a yoke around your neck for the rest of your life.
However, all that is nothing compared to the example of Nancy. Nancy is one of the authors of this book. Nancy believes that truly experiencing the wonders of mental illness is a glorious part of letting go, and will free you as a writer.
"I was desperate, broke, and sick. I was so frightened of losing everything.“
She became depressed but was afraid to seek medication because she didn’t want to mask her feelings or lose her resolve.
Instead, Nancy was determined to “ride these awful feelings all the way down to the bottom of the well” although she didn’t know “whether she’d live long enough to make the descent.”
“There was a day when I felt so ill and had felt so bad for so long that I actually wrote out a list of what my survivors should do after my death.”
“I thought, no, I’ve come this far . . . I have to go on to the end; I just have to . . . And then I finally gave up. I wept. I let go entirely. It didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel like a great relief. But I finally and fully surrendered to whatever might happen.” She went to bed that night feeling utterly defeated and without hope.
Through the miracle of ‘letting go,’ the next morning Nancy was able to write:
“For the first time in my life, I felt a physical sensation of being pulled from my solar plexus. It was the most gentle, subtle tug, but it was there, and it was real. I let it lead me to the couch in my family room; I picked up a pen and paper, and I—who had never written my books or stories on anything but a typewriter or a computer—wrote thirty-six pages in longhand, starting from the place where my book had halted months earlier.”
And here’s how Nancy and Lynn discuss this period in Nancy’s life (all emphases mine).
Think what might have happened if Nancy’s friend had suggested she see a doctor for her condition and the doctor had prescribed antidepressants . . . We are convinced that the creative process requires a good bit of discomfort, but we have faith in you to endure and push through it. We think you will feel worse if, instead of letting go, you choose to fall back into the false security of the status quo and live with less than you could have if you let go. Lynn sees this every day in her therapy practice. Many of her clients would prefer to be diagnosed with an “illness” and take drugs rather than do the work of living, taking the necessary risks required to ensure growth instead of a slow death. But if they stick it out as Nancy did, they learn how to let go, feel the release, and enjoy the ride.
If you can’t find the want and willpower to defeat, trick, or somehow get through, by, or around your guardians of the threshold, you will not be able to continue to the end of your writing project..
Look, I’m just some chick writing a review on the internet, but listen to me and DO NOT listen to these authors.
Chemical imbalances in your brain are not something you should “stick out,” “ride through,” or use “want and willpower to defeat.” Depression will not end if you have enough “resolve.” At best it will suck the life from your days and the will from every muscle. At worst that shit will Fucking. Kill. You.
Taking anti-depressants will not inherently remove your ability to write or feel.
Nancy says, “I wasn’t suicidal. That was my benchmark. If I descended that far, I would know I’d gone too far.”
Well a) the list you wrote to your survivors begs to differ and b) at that point you are well past the ability to judge your mental health.
Get help long before getting to the point of wondering if this is the day you will finally be suicidal. Please.
After my massive emotional ranty rant, I’d also like to note that the authors hit a pet peeve by describing one husband as a "saint" because he "makes the beds, cleans the condo, and runs their errands and finances". A saint, rather than, you know, a contributing member of the partnership.
I did like the description of finishing a book as:
Like bursting through the tape at the finish line of the New York City Marathon, where you get accolades just for finishing, no matter what. But what if you ran those twenty-six miles, and when you stopped, the people around you turned their backs on you or criticized the way you ran the race or threw Gatorade in your face?
And this is why authors react so poorly to reviews.
¹ I’m not saying don’t go to a writer’s workshop, just don’t take on that kind of debt to do it. Sell your car and use public transport. Sell all your clothes but a pair of jeans. Save for two years. Go to a cheaper workshop. But don’t take out a second mortgage. As it turned out, the workshop sounds like a money-spinning con to me, and thoroughly discourages the writer.
October 7, 2009
You know you're going to get inspired with any book having lucky number "seven" in the title (seven days of the week, seven wonders of the world and even seven deadly sins!). An inspiring and candid read, "Seven Steps On the Writer's Path: The Journey from Frustration to Fulfillment" by Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott delivers wisdom, tips and support for writers at all levels and at all experiences. This book is detailed, funny and unconventional. Right away Pickard and Lott let us know that, "Writing is a path as full of darkness as it is of light, and so the way ahead is hard to see."
The authors not only interviewed successfully published authors and got their insights into creating and publishing, but the authors themseleves shared a great deal of their writing frustrations, their regrets and their successes. This book is not for the faint-of-heart writer who is not sure she wants to put in the time and energy to make the writing happen and that's what I loved about this book. They tell us often, "We warned you -- writing is hard." Nancy and Lynn spared no punches about what the writing life is like. Their bottom line: write because you love it and you find joy in it, not because you want to get published. They offer up seven steps (listed below) but the authors emphasize that one size doesn't fit all: all writers have different styles and different methods of getting their writing done. Writers also have different meanings for success. Success for one writer could be a three-book deal of a mystery series, while for another it could mean privately journaling every night.
There were many memorable quotes along the margins from such greats as Henry David Thoreau, Julia Child, Ophrah, Sophocles and Anne Lamott, as well as from the authors and from John Wesley Powell. Powell successfully navigated the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in 1869. He had to have faith because he couldn't see up ahead -- just like the writer's journey. Here's a good example of a Powell quote: "We know not where we are going...at first this causes us great alarm, but we soon find there is little danger, and that there is a general movement of progression down the river...and it is the merry mood of the river to dance through this deep, dark gorge; and right gaily do we join the sport."
The Seven Steps on the Writers Path compiled by Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott:
Step 1 Unhappiness -- we're not happy and know we need to write!
Step 2 Wanting -- we really want to write!
Step 3 Commitment -- we're willing to put other things aside
Step 4 Wavering -- we feel paralysis as well as compulsion
Step 5 Letting Go -- it's all about having faith
Step 6 Immersion -- only the writing matters
Step 7 Fulfillment -- you did it!
The Wavering chapter was hard to read because we've all wavered. Wavering is described as being very compulsive as well as experiencing paralysis. Intermediate writers are most susceptible to wavering because they know they can write but they lack a lot of confidence and experience. The authors described one scenario where a woman got into to debt to pay for this conference and her manuscript was harshly critiqued by a prominent author who's workshop she had signed up for. The woman stopped writing for six months, but then got back on the saddle and found great success. The woman didn't have enough experience at the writing game to tell that egotistical fellow to go *@ himself.
This book is wonderful for writers who have been on the writing journey for at least a few years. I feel that novice writers might find it intimidating and may quit their writing careers as soon as they read the first few pages. But if you're not a newbie writer read this book if you want fresh insights into why you write and why you're not crazy to have chosen this career.
The authors not only interviewed successfully published authors and got their insights into creating and publishing, but the authors themseleves shared a great deal of their writing frustrations, their regrets and their successes. This book is not for the faint-of-heart writer who is not sure she wants to put in the time and energy to make the writing happen and that's what I loved about this book. They tell us often, "We warned you -- writing is hard." Nancy and Lynn spared no punches about what the writing life is like. Their bottom line: write because you love it and you find joy in it, not because you want to get published. They offer up seven steps (listed below) but the authors emphasize that one size doesn't fit all: all writers have different styles and different methods of getting their writing done. Writers also have different meanings for success. Success for one writer could be a three-book deal of a mystery series, while for another it could mean privately journaling every night.
There were many memorable quotes along the margins from such greats as Henry David Thoreau, Julia Child, Ophrah, Sophocles and Anne Lamott, as well as from the authors and from John Wesley Powell. Powell successfully navigated the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in 1869. He had to have faith because he couldn't see up ahead -- just like the writer's journey. Here's a good example of a Powell quote: "We know not where we are going...at first this causes us great alarm, but we soon find there is little danger, and that there is a general movement of progression down the river...and it is the merry mood of the river to dance through this deep, dark gorge; and right gaily do we join the sport."
The Seven Steps on the Writers Path compiled by Nancy Pickard and Lynn Lott:
Step 1 Unhappiness -- we're not happy and know we need to write!
Step 2 Wanting -- we really want to write!
Step 3 Commitment -- we're willing to put other things aside
Step 4 Wavering -- we feel paralysis as well as compulsion
Step 5 Letting Go -- it's all about having faith
Step 6 Immersion -- only the writing matters
Step 7 Fulfillment -- you did it!
The Wavering chapter was hard to read because we've all wavered. Wavering is described as being very compulsive as well as experiencing paralysis. Intermediate writers are most susceptible to wavering because they know they can write but they lack a lot of confidence and experience. The authors described one scenario where a woman got into to debt to pay for this conference and her manuscript was harshly critiqued by a prominent author who's workshop she had signed up for. The woman stopped writing for six months, but then got back on the saddle and found great success. The woman didn't have enough experience at the writing game to tell that egotistical fellow to go *@ himself.
This book is wonderful for writers who have been on the writing journey for at least a few years. I feel that novice writers might find it intimidating and may quit their writing careers as soon as they read the first few pages. But if you're not a newbie writer read this book if you want fresh insights into why you write and why you're not crazy to have chosen this career.
August 5, 2010
I've read many, many how-to writing books - the good, the bad and the ugly - and this is one of my favourites.
Let me explain why. These two ladies do not, in fact, tell you what to do. There's no list of master plots or characters, no scene cards/character forms to fill in. In fact, they say it best with the quote they put at the start of their book:
"Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other." Mary Caroline Richards
This is a book that aims to help you - to help all writers (and probably quite a few other artists, too) put one foot in front of the other, to take one step at a time until you reach your goal (in our case, that would be publication - or perhaps the NYT bestseller list/purlizer prize/Oscar for Best Writing-Original Screenplay).
Truly writing for a living (and I'm not talking about giving up your day job, I'm talking about living for your writing) is a hard thing to do. We (and I'm going out on a limb here - you're reading this review, so you're probably some subspecies of writer) have chosen a difficult path, full of obstacles and switchbacks and ogers under bridges. It's easy to get discouraged, even if you're living the best-case scenario and have a family or a circle of friends that supports you whole-heartedly, and a day-job that allows you to write (or maybe you don't need a day job, good for you).
There are moments when we all want to throw our notebook/laptop/desk against the wall or at our muse in frustration. Times when writing is so painful you'd think you're using your own blood or brain matter for ink. Times when you aren't writing at all, when life gets in the way and thoughts of 'why bother' cross your mind.
If any of this sounds familiar, this is definately a book for you. It isn't unlike books on the stages of grief (and what an analogy that is!), listing the seven steps of the writer's path, ranging from the first one - Unhappiness - to the last - Fulfillment, explaining symptoms and suggesting strategies for moving on (or simply telling the reader that yes, it's normal to feel discouraged at times, it happens to everyone). There's also lots of little annecdotes about the authors or about people they'd met illustrating the Seven Steps. They lighten up the topic and make for a fluent and amusing read.
Additional plus: The margins of this little book are filled from start to finish with quotes, mostly on writing, all appropriate to the 'step' they accompany, all of them brilliant. But then I have a thing for quotes... here's an example that really made me smile:
"It's all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation." Dr Rob Gilbert (p.48)
This book is all about not giving up hope, and an extra dish of hope is something most of us could do with on occasion. If you're a writer, if you're stuck in a rut or if you think you're the only one with your problem/feeling as you do about your writing, this is definately the book for you.
Let me explain why. These two ladies do not, in fact, tell you what to do. There's no list of master plots or characters, no scene cards/character forms to fill in. In fact, they say it best with the quote they put at the start of their book:
"Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other." Mary Caroline Richards
This is a book that aims to help you - to help all writers (and probably quite a few other artists, too) put one foot in front of the other, to take one step at a time until you reach your goal (in our case, that would be publication - or perhaps the NYT bestseller list/purlizer prize/Oscar for Best Writing-Original Screenplay).
Truly writing for a living (and I'm not talking about giving up your day job, I'm talking about living for your writing) is a hard thing to do. We (and I'm going out on a limb here - you're reading this review, so you're probably some subspecies of writer) have chosen a difficult path, full of obstacles and switchbacks and ogers under bridges. It's easy to get discouraged, even if you're living the best-case scenario and have a family or a circle of friends that supports you whole-heartedly, and a day-job that allows you to write (or maybe you don't need a day job, good for you).
There are moments when we all want to throw our notebook/laptop/desk against the wall or at our muse in frustration. Times when writing is so painful you'd think you're using your own blood or brain matter for ink. Times when you aren't writing at all, when life gets in the way and thoughts of 'why bother' cross your mind.
If any of this sounds familiar, this is definately a book for you. It isn't unlike books on the stages of grief (and what an analogy that is!), listing the seven steps of the writer's path, ranging from the first one - Unhappiness - to the last - Fulfillment, explaining symptoms and suggesting strategies for moving on (or simply telling the reader that yes, it's normal to feel discouraged at times, it happens to everyone). There's also lots of little annecdotes about the authors or about people they'd met illustrating the Seven Steps. They lighten up the topic and make for a fluent and amusing read.
Additional plus: The margins of this little book are filled from start to finish with quotes, mostly on writing, all appropriate to the 'step' they accompany, all of them brilliant. But then I have a thing for quotes... here's an example that really made me smile:
"It's all right to have butterflies in your stomach. Just get them to fly in formation." Dr Rob Gilbert (p.48)
This book is all about not giving up hope, and an extra dish of hope is something most of us could do with on occasion. If you're a writer, if you're stuck in a rut or if you think you're the only one with your problem/feeling as you do about your writing, this is definately the book for you.
January 16, 2020
This book was gifted to me by a dear friend two years ago. I'd started it and then set it aside a few times for various reasons that seem trivial now that I've finally finished the book.
Seven Steps on the Writer's Path was not anything I could have expected but I enjoyed it and I was a little sad for it to end because not only was i getting good advice but i also felt very seen in understood as a writer and it helped me understand myself better as a writer as well.
The authors really get into the nit and grit of each of the steps on the writing journey all the while reminding us that while writing is solitary, every writer shares the same struggles, so in the bigger picture, we aren't so alone.
There are growing pains that never cease when you're a writer and this book reminds up that we have grown through it before and we can always grow through them again.
Seven Steps on the Writer's Path was not anything I could have expected but I enjoyed it and I was a little sad for it to end because not only was i getting good advice but i also felt very seen in understood as a writer and it helped me understand myself better as a writer as well.
The authors really get into the nit and grit of each of the steps on the writing journey all the while reminding us that while writing is solitary, every writer shares the same struggles, so in the bigger picture, we aren't so alone.
There are growing pains that never cease when you're a writer and this book reminds up that we have grown through it before and we can always grow through them again.
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November 16, 2023I like this book but decided to return it to the library early because I’ve been procrastinating on writing my novel. Someday I’ll have to check it out again…
February 16, 2012
Great book for writers and writer-wanna-be's and well, anyone who has ever wanted to do any kind of creative endeavor whatsoever. The title is a bit misleading, I think: "7 steps" kind of implies that the authors are going to give you instructions to follow for writing your masterpiece, and while they do give pointers on how to cope with each step, the steps themselves are more about the emotional roller coaster ride that typify the creative process. The first 3, for example, are unhappiness, wanting, and committing. Unhappiness might mean a midlife crisis that leads to wanting that leads to quitting your desk job (committing) to live out your dream of writing a novel. Or for a seasoned writer, unhappiness might just be the discontent experienced when a new idea has occurred to you and you aren't yet doing anything about it....and when you start, you race through wanting and committing and even beyond all on one day. It's rather an iterative process--rather than going directly through steps 1 through 7, some projects might be more like playing Chutes and Ladders and you wonder if you will ever get to finish the game.
The truth of it is that the steps apply not just to the creative process, but to any process of risk-taking or change. The authors actually acknowledge this; one of them is a therapist during the week--and a writer (about psychology/parenting kinds of things) on the weekends. As a result of her experience, the book often addresses how the steps apply outside the writing life. It was recommended to me as a great book for helping understand how to get from where you are to where you want to be--and after having read it, I realize that part of what's helpful is being able to recognize what setbacks might look like, and to see that they are normal.
The truth of it is that the steps apply not just to the creative process, but to any process of risk-taking or change. The authors actually acknowledge this; one of them is a therapist during the week--and a writer (about psychology/parenting kinds of things) on the weekends. As a result of her experience, the book often addresses how the steps apply outside the writing life. It was recommended to me as a great book for helping understand how to get from where you are to where you want to be--and after having read it, I realize that part of what's helpful is being able to recognize what setbacks might look like, and to see that they are normal.
March 23, 2009
Books on the craft of writing are a tricky bunch. I've found that I either think they are amazing and want to live by them, or that they're sort of useless. For once a writing book fell inbetween.
Seven Steps on the Writer's Path describes the journey that each writer (supposedly) takes from Unhappiness to Fulfillment. When I first started this book, and just glanced through the steps, I thought that I would be somewhere in Wavering or possibly Letting Go. As I read however, each step felt like exactly where I am in this moment. While it was nice that the steps were all very relatable, it also made it hard to really understand where I was and how I could apply the authors' suggestions to my writing life.
I really liked their examples of a writer's feelings and actions at each step and appreciated the interviews and comments from established authors. I wanted more concrete exercises to help work through each step. Some writing exercises would have been nice as well. Overall, it was okay, but it didn't motivate me at all and didn't give me a better understanding of myself as a writer. It might be a nice book to own, simply so I could read it at a more leisurely pace and only focus on the step that I think I'm currently in. It felt a little weird to read the whole thing straight through. A decent book to check out, but not a must read.
Seven Steps on the Writer's Path describes the journey that each writer (supposedly) takes from Unhappiness to Fulfillment. When I first started this book, and just glanced through the steps, I thought that I would be somewhere in Wavering or possibly Letting Go. As I read however, each step felt like exactly where I am in this moment. While it was nice that the steps were all very relatable, it also made it hard to really understand where I was and how I could apply the authors' suggestions to my writing life.
I really liked their examples of a writer's feelings and actions at each step and appreciated the interviews and comments from established authors. I wanted more concrete exercises to help work through each step. Some writing exercises would have been nice as well. Overall, it was okay, but it didn't motivate me at all and didn't give me a better understanding of myself as a writer. It might be a nice book to own, simply so I could read it at a more leisurely pace and only focus on the step that I think I'm currently in. It felt a little weird to read the whole thing straight through. A decent book to check out, but not a must read.
October 31, 2008
At almost every step, I recognized myself. Oh, so this is where I am with my writing. Oh no, I guess I'm on this step. Really, the book is written so generally that I think anyone could recognize themselves at any point on the path. The sidebar format was annoying though I'm pulling some of the quotes out to refer back to. If you are needing to find a way back to writing, this might just help confirm you're on a path, but it's certainly not one of my favorite writing books and I'd recommend many others ahead of this one.
September 4, 2008
Ok, I'm only halfway through, but this book is great for me. See my blog, August 2008. The authors not only map a writer's path, but give plenty of examples of other writers, how many rejections they received, the ridiculous number of years it took, all the head-banging frustration along the way. . . and that gives me hope!
March 2, 2010
This is a re-read. I re-read this book often, because it goes through the common stages of any creative project and what to do if you get hung up at any point along the way. Valuable reference for the working writer.
January 4, 2011
Took me a long time to work through it because the early chapters really made me think about how stuck I felt in my writing all during 2011. I would read a chapter, put it down, come back to it. But I think that's how this book may work for people.
June 23, 2011
So far this book has convinced me that I will never be a writer. I won't ever get past Stage 1, which is despair that the ideas aren't coming together. I'm approaching my short stories way too systematically.
February 12, 2012
This is a great book filled with insight to benefit writers, whether established or beginning. And it applies to any creative endeavor. I feel that it could be beneficial to artists of all media. That's a rare accomplishment.
November 11, 2013
Incredible book about writing, and the woes that we all encompass as we attempt to write, when we write, and after we write. Great book! I've ordered it from Amazon to keep it on my shelves to pick up when I'm having an "Oh, woe is me!" moment.
February 27, 2016
This book came to me at just the right time. Why am I not writing, and what can I do about it? This book showed me what step I'm on, helped me figure out why, and gave tips for moving on. The seven steps describe the cycle of the creative process, whatever your creative outlet is.
June 28, 2010
Awesome book for all writers, no matter where you are in your career!
August 16, 2011
Very helpful; unique blending of steps on the writer's journey with steps of the actual journey of John Wesley Powell, the first white person to travel the Colorado River, back in the 1800s.
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