The Right to Write
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| Author | Julia Cameron |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-Fiction |
| Publisher | Penguin Putnam Inc. |
Publication date | 27 December 1999 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print Paperback |
| Pages | 233pp |
| ISBN | 1585420093 |
The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life, by Julia Cameron is a non-fiction book written in first-person point of view about the creative process. This book can be meant for anyone who has an interest in writing and for existing writers who might want to learn techniques to improve their writing process
Synopsis
"The Right to Write" is a followup bestseller after Cameron's international bestseller entitled The Artist's Way. "The Right to Write" book begins with an introduction and has 43 individual sections along with initiation tools at the end of each chapter. There are also suggested readings by the author listed after the final section. The author uses her own experiences and examples as details for the writing process[1] while using metaphor and other figures of speech. The main focus of "The Right to Write" stated in the introduction is "to heal writers who are broken, initiate writers who are afraid, and entice writers who are standing at river's edge, wanting to put a toe in." [2]
Sample Section Summary
Sketching is one of the sections in this book that Cameron positions about the attitude of trust. [3]Trust in this section refers to the reader listening and feeling the words as they come instead of the anxiety of not knowing what to write at a given time. The book continues to state that writers don't have to know what they want to say but images will start showing up because it is the writing itself that will know what to do. The technique described by Cameron is compared to a voice inside the writer's head that starts talking and the reader can listen to it as story while writing down the details. Cameron's metaphor to describe writer's block is a wall. The wall is described as a place where many start to compete and doubt their writing but there are suggestions of overcoming it where the reader can be free to start sketching again.
Initiation Tools
Initiation tools are basic tools (practice exercises) about different writing techniques that cameron suggests to do. These include free -writing, writing a list of things the reader may value,[4] observing or writing the reader's surroundings,[5] or taking a walk to gain inspiration and insight. [6]
The Initiation Tool for the section on "Sketching" is for the reader to take one half hour to sketch where the reader may be, the mood they are in, and anything else around that might be of interest. Then it says to make a list from one to five of different topics the reader would like to write about without the worry of being practical or deep.
The initiation tools such as "Artist Date" and "Morning Pages" are listed in both the "The Right to Write" and "The Artist's Way." Artist Date is listed as an initiation tool in the section "The Well"[7] which is a metaphor associating with the writing process. A dried up well is referred to writer's block and in order to unblock, one would need to restock their well which can be accomplished in a variety of ways such as an artist date. An "Artist Date" is a date a writer can go on with him/herself to restock their well such as visiting a place of interest.
The initiation tool Morning Pages is listed in the section, "Witness" [8] and it is a longhand free-writing activity meant to be done in the morning about anything the reader wants to write about.
References
- ^ artists way
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg xvii
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg 69
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg 51
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg 92
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg 63
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg 64-68
- ^ Cameron, Julia The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (1998) pg 81-86