eternalscout's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
lindasdarby's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful and inspiring book. I’m more convinced than ever I need to start a writing practice. Fallon has so many interesting studies and anecdotes to support her theories or the importance of writing and contemplating and understanding who we are through writing. I love especially the idea of how important language is and if we don’t have the words it’s harder for us to process events in our lives. I also found it fascinating her take on writing a letter to a future self as a way of visualizing. So many gems. Loved this book. It’s highlighted on many pages.
tylercritchfield's review against another edition
2.0
Not what I was quite expecting - I thought this would be more about writing in general but it's geared toward those who want to use writing as self-therapy for trauma in their life. Even then, it lacks research and consists primarily of anecdotes from the author's life or those of her clients. I did find some of her ideas compelling and good to keep in mind.
Biggest takeaways: (1) write now, edit later (2) everyone is a writer and (3) what we write is what we remember.
Biggest takeaways: (1) write now, edit later (2) everyone is a writer and (3) what we write is what we remember.
cassiealexandra's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
This book on writing was not what I expected. I’ve followed Ally Fallon for a long time online, but this was the first time I read any of her published works. Because her social media, business, and blog are very practical, I thought this would include more prompts, tips, and guidance on non-fiction writing. Instead this was more of an overview, including some summaries of scientific studies, of the benefits of expressive writing as a tool for framing one’s life. I appreciated the ideas about processing past trauma, framing the present, and imagining the future. I didn’t need much convincing to know that writing is a helpful way to work through emotions and events; I’ve been doing it most of my life. The practical tips in this title including setting a time and place, “the infinity prompt,” and writing “it” like a love letter were all helpful, but I know I’ll struggle with having the discipline to implement them, especially with my kids in their current stages. One of my takeaways was that writing can change my life, but that this practice isn’t just the power of positive thinking at work. Overall, I think this is a great read if you want another tool in your life to use in conjunction with therapy, prayer, community, etc. If you’re looking for something practical about becoming a non-fiction author, this is not that—my own fault for making assumptions about the book’s content without reading the descriptions.
asanford's review against another edition
5.0
Why 5 stars? Because I was taking notes and telling people to read it while I was listening to it. Am I gonna write a book? Nope. But I do enjoy writing and the direction in this book will help my journal writing be more therapeutic and beneficial.