A Walk Between Heaven and Earth: A Personal Journal on Writing and the Creative Process

by Burghild Nina Holzer

"Talking to paper is talking to the divine. Paper is infinitely patient. Each time you scratch on it, you trace part of yourself, and thus part of the world, and thus part of the grammar of the universe. It is a huge language, but each of us tracks his or her particular understanding of it." —from A Walk Between Heaven and Earth

Unlike any other guide to journal writing, A Walk Between Heaven and Earth is itself written as a personal journal and as a meditation on the flow of creation. Burghild Nina Holzer demonstrates that the creative process is in fact a large, ongoing movement in our lives and that we may gradually discover the pattern and direction of it by trusting whatever it is we choose to confide to the page. She helps would-be writers recognize the power and importance of opening themselves to the present moment and recording whatever they find there. Holzer's book is both inspiration and model. It will appeal not only to those who wish to explore the creative process as a mystical path, but to all who desire to express themselves through writing.

Genres: Writing, Journaling, Nonfiction, Memoir

143 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 1994

Reviews

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meta-journal and good insights on the writing process and journaling. It reminded me a lot of May Sarton's Journal of Solitude, one of my favorites.

[Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is as mysterious as its author, on whom very little public information is available. It is a record of her record-keeping, i.e. daily journal writing. Holzer uses a journal as her mystical guide to understanding life and connecting with the pieces of it that aren't easy to understand. The gruesome death of a beloved brother, a former home, and her childhood all crop up. For Holzer, the journal is her creative mode, which is an interesting angle on writing, usually seen as imagnizative rather than quotidian. Above all, this book is incredibly soothing. Have anxiety before bed? Feel like you accomplish nothing? Read a passage from this book each day, wash those cares away.

[Wen Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A source of great inspiration for anyone who keeps a journal, for anyone who writes.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was an unexpected delight....I have re-read it and recommend it to friends often

[Tara Benwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspired me to write a book about the death of a loved one, even before I knew that my loved one was dying. I will forever be indebted to this writer wherever she may be.

[Laura Siegel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely little book of journal entries chronicling the deeper reasons for keeping a journal.

[Peggy Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book immensely. It about keeping journals or 'talking to paper' as she calls it. But it's really about a lot more than that - it's about listening to yourself and deeply living life. A wonderful message that I really needed to hear...

[Vickie Bakken]

It was okay.