The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself

I was a little skeptical about a new-age-y writing book--another writer urging us wannabes to spill words. But Rosemary Daniell won me over. First of all, she's really practicing what she preaches--and not for the money. The first chapter, from which the title was taken, describes her experiences teaching writing in schools and prisons. It's the intersection of her greatest love and the greatest need--and both admirable and daring. I've had the pleasure of using her discussion starters with children ages 5-8 and it works! In her chapter on self-sabotage I recognized people I know as well as myself. I will pull this chapter out on occasion to remind myself what NOT to do. I was most taken, though, with the "Further Notes" chapter. In it she described things I've had to learn the hard way myself. (She calls it demystification--thank you, Rosemary, I wish I'd met you years ago.) For example, how to paraphrase everything first. I'm halfway finished with an MFA and have studied writing with many famous writers. NO ONE has ever mentioned this before. But it works. There are also many provocative female ideas embedded in this book, like the use of irony in good women's fiction. I'd like to sit in on that discussion. This is a book I will buy and keep and read when I need to hear the voice of someone experienced and wise.

Rosemary Daniell is a woman who has listened intently and found her passion and her voice. She shares both in this book so that others may know what the experience is like. My favorite part is where she is working with students and the class is working on the poem "Eggs" and students ponder what is it really like to sit in a bathtub of eggs. The words are so strong they don't just invite visualization, they demand it. Having sat in on a Zona Rosa meeting, I can say that working with Rosemary Daniell is just as electrifying.

This book is more memoir than "beginner writer" exercise book (though there are some exercises), but this is precisely why I liked it. And, of course, the "read-like-a-novel" style of writing sets it apart from ordinary "how to write" books. Like another reviewer, I wish Rosemary and her Zona Rosa group were in my town!! Failing that, though, this book is a keeper!

Daniell's book is like a banquet; she has cooked up something for everyone, beginning writers, those in the middle and old hands. This is a book I buy frequently now and give away to people I like, both writers and nonwriters. As a desert, there are a whole lot of things you can do with young people to stimulate the creative process in The Woman Who Spilled Words All Over Herself. Super good book.

I have read many writing books, and have never been so moved by a discussion of how writing and life intersect since reading GARP so many years ago. My enthusiasm for this book leaked to a friend, so I lent it to her for a week while I was in the midst of reading it. She devoured it, and was truly inspired. The following weekend she and another friend had a mini-zona rosa meeting of their own in that they spent the day together doing some of the writing exercises at the back of the book. They found them tremendously USEFUL, not like some of the beginning level creative writing 101 exercises that are in so many writing books. Now I've got the book back and I'm going to finish it, do some of the exercises and try some of the recipes too! This is a book for serious writers, many of whom don't belong to writing groups, and it's about time. I wish Rosemary and Zona Rosa were in my town