The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life

How refreshing. Julia Cameron gives an open invitation to everyone to write. Ms. Cameron breaks down the barriers and the negative mindsets for stymied, would-be writers. Simply write. Write your way. Write when you can. Write where you can. I love listening to Ms. Cameron with her down-to-earth sensibilities toward writers and writing. There's no pretense as she shares stories and encouragement from her own writing life. I especially enjoy the story she tells of the famous writer she invited to a dinner party who believes only those who truly suffer for the art can be real writers. He further humiliated Ms. Cameron at her dinner party while she still maintained that as exalted as he is now, even he began like every other writer. This wonderful audio set by Cameron is very helpful and encouraging in gaining perspective and realizing that yes, we all have this inalienable right of self-expression - the right to write. - Victoria Austin

I am not normally a fan of writer's inspiration books like this one, primarily because they are so addicting. A blocked or fearful writer can quickly fill their shelves up with books that explain and examine their literary malaise. On one hand, it can be a huge relief to have your problem recognized in print and read case histories about other writers who eventually made it through. But on the other, you run the risk of drowning in self-exploration and doing nothing practical to get yourself writing again. Julia Cameron deals with writer's block and other triumphs and obstacles in practical terms. In "The Right to Write", she uses equal measures of encouragement and gentle sarcasm to turn aspiring and blocked writers into active practitioners of their craft. Her message is simple: write, and do it daily. Even if what you come up with is not publication quality, the act of doing makes writing a routine endeavor instead of an occasional challenge. If you're serious about seeing your name in print one day, self-analysis will only take you so far. Julia Cameron offers practical advice that will bring you much closer to your goal.

I really enjoyed this book. It's inspiring, full of good exercises and has been of great help to me. However, I recently came across Dorothea Brande's 1934 classic 'Becoming a Writer', which somewhat tainted 'The Right to Write' for me. Ms Cameron credits Dorothea Brande's book in the bibliography, but appears to claim the 'morning pages' idea as her own - it is 'the most effective tool I have devised' or words to that effect. In fact, the idea of morning pages is lifted straight from 'Becoming a Writer' and no mention is made of this in the book. I think it's important for fans of Julia Cameron to know this.

Just keep doing it, even when you don't feel like doing it, or when you don't think you have anything worthwhile to say. You'll stop thinking of writing as some mystical activity that can only be done in a dreamlike state. Writing will become a commonplace activity that you can do without any undue anxiety.That's what Julia Cameron wants you to realize about writing--that it can be a daily activity, like brushing your teeth, or taking a bath, somethinig that you just do. I've spent a good portion of my life wanting to be a writer, but not writing. When I was a kid, I wrote stories all the time, and didn't care how good they were. Then one day I grew up and became self-conscious, and the flow of writing stopped.For the last fourteen years, I've kept myself pretty busy thinking of one thing after another to do instead of writing. I've made mix tapes, I've cleaned my room, I've gone shopping, spent time with friends, gone on walks, listened to music, and when I was feeling adventurous, even thought about writing, but I've done very little actual writing.Last year, I read Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way" and found it very inspiring. As with this book, you can't read a chapter without feeling a charge of life-force.I think my icy self-critic is finally starting to melt some. I didn't want to come to the computer this morning and write this review, but I did it anyway, and it wasn't so bad. Before reading Julia Cameron's books, I would have sat paralyzed at the keyboard, spending forty-five minutes on the first sentence. I've now spent about ten minutes writing the whole review so far.I think it's a good thing, as Julia Cameron suggests in this book, to think of writing as just another component of life. You don't judge yourself on how well you sleep each night. You just do it, night after night. Some nights you sleep fitfully, tossing and turning. But then then there are other nights when you have the most beautiful dreams. It's the same way with writing. There's a flow to it, like the flow of life, that you shouldn't try to control. You should just get yourself there everyday, so you're there to experience those beautiful dreams when they come.

"Abridged? What will they take out?" I wondered. Then the tapes arrived. The answer: the tools at the end of each chapter. Initially, I was disappointed.However, this editing decision makes total sense. The essays really shine on their own merit, even more so when read by Julia. I've played them over and over again: in the car while commuting to my first graduate class in eleven years, at home to bookend my day-- anywhere I can.For those who are looking for more specific books on the writer's craft-- they're out there. Cameron tells you at the very beginning of the book/audiotape that this book is something different.It's inspired me to revisit the Artist's Way routines of Morning Pages and Artist Dates. They make more sense this time around, somehow; the descriptions seem more specific, pared down to the necessary. And they're already making a difference in my dual lives as writer and musician.I can't recommend this book enough, nor the tapes. Julia: thank you, again. I'm back on track.