An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (Artist's Way)

Cameron obviously intends with this book to offer motivation for writers, would-be writers, and, interestingly, everyone else too, since she firmly believes that EVERYONE is a writer at heart and everyone SHOULD write. I don't think everyone should be a writer any more than everyone should be a dog trainer (it has nothing to do with talent, by the way, and everything to do with doing what you LIKE). Once you get past that premise, is her advice for freeing up your writing useful? What she terms "initiation" tools include freewriting, positive affirmations, writing postcards to five friends in 15 minutes, listing 50 things that make you happy or 100 things you love, and so on. Though, clearly, such tools are most helpful to writers who aren't flooded by ideas from morning `til night, it's possible that if you're feeling stymied by your current project, one of Cameron's exercises might unrust your creative gears and help you enter flow (though the novelists and poets I interviewed for my own bestselling WRITING IN FLOW almost never use such prompts themselves, they admit they give them to their students -- so if you're new at this, do whatever works). (But don't limit yourself to listing "things I love." How about "things that make me want to strangle someone"?)

There aren't enough books on the market that approach writing as an Art. This is one of them.
The people that dismiss this book as "derivative" or "New-agey feel-good fluff" are usually the people who enjoy the serious "You must be published before you can call yourself a REAL writer" types of books. These are also the people who will gleefully rip a new writer to shreds because they can.
This author speaks to the person who writes not because it's a supposedly easy way to make money (it isn't), but because they MUST. The people who respond to this book know what it's like to feel blocked because some insenstive lout decided to mess with their head by telling them they are lousy, and can't write anything else because of this. The people who respond to this work are artists at heart, people who know what it is to "feel the flow", "be in the Zone"; to lose themselves in the act of writing itself. For these people, this book is an invitation to dream, to write it all down, even if no one ever sees it.
Any -good- writer I have ever read, who comments on the art and act of writing says the same thing as Ms Cameron, albeit in their own words.
"Let the writing write through you". Bradbury said it too.
I'd recommend "Zen in the Art of Writing" in addition to this book for people who want to connect with the Art and spirit of writing.
This book is also for people who have no interest in the publishing game, and just want to write, because they want to set themselves down in some kind of tangible way. I'd recommend this book for people who like to journal, and those who'd like to set down their life's story for their children and grandchildren.
This isn't a book for shallow wanna-bes. It's for people who understand what it is to meditate and can understand advanced concepts like spirituality in art.

A beautiful book by an obviously beautiful person. The Right to Write is reading pleasure from beginning to end. It's such a wonderful experience that you never want it to end; sort of like sitting down with a good friend, someone who really cares about you, and receiving endless support and wonderful encouragement. If you've ever wanted to be a writer, let me assure you that by the time you have finished the first chapter you'll be one.
Julia has a dream. She is at the Pearly Gates and St Peter wants to know why she should enter. Julia says, "I convinced people they should write."
Well, Julia, with this book you've got your ticket to heaven.
Thank you.

Julia Cameron takes a gentle, but steady approach. She understands full well that if you have had writer's block your entire life, it will not be easy to unblock yourself. Her main unblocking tool is to write three pages a day. You can write anything you want. After some initial reluctance, I have now become an addict, and I have filled several notebooks. She understands very well what demons wannabe writers might face, and gives plenty of exercises for overcoming them. Many of them very gentle, some where you must face old demons, but all basically very simple and easy to do.

Author Julia Cameron is also the co-author of The Artist's Way --a classic book that is great for lives in transition. This book is quite different and great for everyone who desires to write a book, article or report for work. She covers how to make yourself a channel for your heart and soul and more. Somewhat spiritual, she still tackles such basics as finding voice and sound. In addition, she offers suggestions for mood and procastination (every writer's challenge at some time or another). Some workbook-style practices are included in the book for those who want to go deeper and use this as a self-guide to creating a writer's life. Terrific addition to every writer's shelf.

What a fabulous book! Inspiring and beautifully written. As a former Journalist who has gotten away from writing, this book has me back on the writing path again. I feel I am back "home" again. Writing is where my heart and soul lie. Thanks to this book, I am journaling three pages each morning and loving it. I am doing as Julia urges, "Just get it down." I have found an aspect of "me" that was forgotten and neglected for years. While I have continued to read continually over the years, my writing took a back seat and so did a major part of my personality. Just last week, I ventured into the woods with a pen and a pad and sketched an outline for a self-help book that has been on my mind for years. During this morning's run, I felt so inspired by my re-awakened love for writing that I tore through the miles and returned home with a head full of neat writing ideas. This book reminded me what I am -- a writer! If you love writing, you must read this book.

Many authors or poets who write about writing tend to glorify themselves and their craft, claiming that writing is tortuous but necessary, that only those who cannot live without writing should write at all. Julia Cameron cuts through all this rigamarole beautifully. She systematically tears down the walls that we build between ourselves and writing, until writing really is as simple as sitting down and putting pen to paper. If you feel that the exercises put pressure on you, it's probably because you've gotten used to taking refuge in your excuses for not writing, and when the excuses are taken away, there's nothing left but to write. I have read this book more times than I know how to count, as whenever I feel slogged down in writing, I pick up The Right to Write. Julia Cameron is like a close friend, sharing what she knows, and although at times the word play gets a little heavy, to criticize things like this is to overlook the wonderful possibilities the book presents. (The poems she includes as part of her essays are a plus, as well: simple and utterly honest.)

Julia Cameron's work is always engaging and this book is no exception. `The Right to Write' is written with beauty and eloquence and would make the perfect companion for any would be writer who struggles with making a start or trusting in their own abilities to bring their work to completion.

With many years as a published writer, Julia's experience and candour gives the reader insights into her own writing life that are inspiring and profound. She takes the budding writer by the hand, and through carefully selected exercises, guides her to overcome resistance and start producing results. Julia turns the experience into something to be cherished, not feared, and the results can be extremely gratifying. If you are in love with the idea of writing and desire to deepen your relationship even more, then this book is for you. Indulge yourself!

I have read this book several times and just pulled it off my shelf again yesterday. This is a great inspiration book for writing. When I'm dragging in my work, or having a long bout of feeling uninspired and useless as a writer, I open this book.

Sometimes it's easy to get off track, to write only with the consideration of what others are going to think, or only to get published. For me, that's a death knell to my inspiration. This book has never failed to lift my spirits and remind me of the joys and benefits for *me* that come from what I write and the writing process itself.

I completely love Julia Cameron's approach to creativity. She is so practical and helpful in conveying spiritual principles in the most down to earth and usable ways. It is beautiful and fascinating to me that her techniques are equally applicable to every form of creativity. I particularly enjoy the exercises she suggests that mean you not only read about improved expression but you get to experience it directly.

If you have any aspirations to be a writer then this book is a must.

This book is good for beginning writers, especially those who are unsure about putting pen to paper.
I have read The Artist Way, but I prefer this book because it is specific to writing.
You can use the morning pages to help you overcome writer's block, by relieving you of the pressure to write perfect prose every time. Also, writing flows easier with practice.

I use this book, but I also attend a creative writing course and read definitive texts on the craft. The Right To Write won't teach you about style or help you develop your ear, but that is not the intention of the book. I do not criticize it for that, because there is not a single book in existence that can teach you everything about the craft.
I do recommend this book, however, as a useful addition to your writer's toolkit. It seems that Julia Cameron is the Dorothea Brande of our times.

If you saw the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin, do you remember the scene where he buys a newspaper, starts reading it, and is so repulsed that he spends another quarter so he can put the paper back? I only paid $.50 for this book at a thrift store, that's how I feel.

Do yourself a favor and read the first paragraph before you buy this book or perhaps buy Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird instead.

Cameron has devised a great book with very useful exercises for those of us who want to write again. I was very surprised to find that the chapters really do open the reader up to these unexpected lessons. I recommend this to anyone who wants to return to the writer's mindset and remember what it's like to have a child-like mentality about this craft.

Julia Cameron's book is a valuable tool for anyone interested in exploring their creative potential. Her philosophies reach well past writing into expanding the real and imagined boundaries of life's routines.

"Each day, each life, is a series of choices, and as we use the lens of writing to view our lives, we see our choices."
(Julia Cameron "The Right to Write")

"The Right to Write" is briskly organized, with plenty of practical exercises designed to get thwarted creatives (Julia would argue that would include EVERYONE at some point sometime) to demystify writing, and the hyperbolic, foreboding mythology surrounding a writing life.

I was fortunate to attend one of Ms. Cameron's workshops in New York City. Her sincere desire to help writers "metabolize" experience into words on the page exemplifies her own hard-won "learned faith."
Thank you Julia.

This book offers a springboard to writing. It gives you permission to write, so in that it's worth it. But if you want to know what to do with your writing--now that you've got permission to write--check out more informative, and equally inpspiring books by authors Marcia Yudkin and Donna Elizabeth Boetig. In the meantime, enjoy.

The difficulty we had with this book was not that it seemed so very new-agey, or fluffy, or any such thing; it was that, as with so many of these "You Can Write" books, the authors seem to assume that everyone has money.
She does make some good points on Western society's (particularly the U.S.) attitude toward personal writing (it is discouraged, which is worse than if it were forbidden; we let greeting cards do our self-expression for us). She emphasises that we must not be afraid to produce raw writing; the polishing should come later. Although the computer makes it much easier to edit as you go along, it's a mixed blessing to those of us who fit her description of the overly self-censoring child who earns stellar points in English by writing prose like concrete blocks.
She speaks strongly about people who complain that they have no time to write. Her advice is to snitch a few minutes here and there, while waiting for the bus or on coffee breaks, which is perfectly reasonable. But she seems completely to ignore the fact that for many of the working poor, it isn't time, it's money. It's a rare person who can hold down four jobs just to pay rent, groceries and basic utilities, and still have energy left over to write. This kind of working poverty is reality for countless people, many of whom might well be creatively brilliant, but will never have an opportunity to explore their "inner voice" or whatever it may be.
Her writing style is not all that impressive, aside from a few amusing similes. Perhaps this is deliberate, so as not to intimidate.
In summary, Julia Cameron like most "You Can Write" authors rather defeats her own purpose. A published writer with quite an impressive track record, she's successful enough to be able to afford real estate (however small) in New Mexico, an Arabian horse and various other luxuries. Much as she would like to think so, she is not just like everybody else.
I can see why some reviewers have pegged her as a new age type; she's amazingly shortsighted when it comes to the "nickeled and dimed" reality of how most people -- particularly women -- live nowadays. As always, use what you can from this book and leave the rest.

I listened to this as I was traveling across country and was so inspired that I began writing immediately. Julia absolutely helps us get through the "hangups" of writing. I have a laptop and love to type. The first thing in the morning, I put on some music and meditate as I type......WOW! When I open my eyes, I see words that took no effort to write. Unbelieveable!! I am on the road to writing again! Thank you Julia for the invitation and the permission to just do it!

What a disappointment. I found the book superficial and poorly written. It reads like a first draft dashed off in a few weeks--perhaps a compilation of stream-of-consciousness morning pages. The book definitely needed heavy editing. I guess this book would work, say, in an adult ed class to loosen people up to write, or as therapy to help someone deal with loss or pain. It is not about the craft of writing. There's such a thing as bad writing.
For good writing and helpful instruction about the craft of writing, see Anne LaMott's Bird by Bird.

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.

When alone...driving,walking,lying awake at night, is there a part of you that begins to come alive with stories to tell, characters stirring, yearning to be born...and then "real life" smacks you up beside the head and you abandon these desires feeling that part of you fade away? If you answered "YES"...you need this book. Those characters gestating inside you will thank you and love you forever.

This book is fantastic.
There are several ways to express your creative side in writing. It was nice to know my crazy style is actually a way to write, who would have thought!
I love this book and also Julia Cameron's "The Artists Way." It was life; saving, changing and affirming.