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maryvarn's review
This is great for explaining the value of writing for non-writers, like journaling. But there was a lot of emphasis on how valuable it is for your loved ones to read your journals after you're dead. This had the opposite of the intended effect on me: it made me self conscious about journaling.
bookswritingandmore's review
5.0
Such a beautifully written novel about the power of writing whether it be a letter to your mom to reflect on your gratitude or an email to a lover, all writing brings us closer together. I thought this novel wad a treasure.
sevseverance's review
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I want to start writing, and yet am nervous to. So instead, I just read about writing. This was a relatively quick and easy read (even is spaced out over many weeks). Important reminders that we all need to write, we all need to share our story, our history. I have a clearer idea of what I want to write (than when I first started reading- though the idea didn’t come from reading this book), and this book provided the memorable lines I need to remember to start.
“The urge to get it exactly right often stands between you and beginning. "Don't get it right, get it written" demands composition first, cleanup later. The paralysis of perfectionism is a terrible ailment that can seep into so much of our daily lives. In writing, what it leads to is an empty page, and an empty page is neither good nor bad. It's nothing." (Anna Quindlen, Write for Your Life)
"In other words, just write. The message was both soothing and inspiring: Your work may not be eloquent or even correct, but if you keep at it, you will get more comfortable, and therefore more yourself, and therefore much improved. More words, more sentences, will lead to better words, better sentences." (Anna Quindlen, Write for Your Life)
"The ordinary stories are sometimes the most illuminating of our lives because the simply factual can lead us to the deeply philosophical. They allow us to stop time, to preserve not only who we are but who we once were. … When you write, you connect with yourself, past, present, and future." (Anna Quindlen, Write for Your Life)
“The urge to get it exactly right often stands between you and beginning. "Don't get it right, get it written" demands composition first, cleanup later. The paralysis of perfectionism is a terrible ailment that can seep into so much of our daily lives. In writing, what it leads to is an empty page, and an empty page is neither good nor bad. It's nothing." (Anna Quindlen, Write for Your Life)
"In other words, just write. The message was both soothing and inspiring: Your work may not be eloquent or even correct, but if you keep at it, you will get more comfortable, and therefore more yourself, and therefore much improved. More words, more sentences, will lead to better words, better sentences." (Anna Quindlen, Write for Your Life)
"The ordinary stories are sometimes the most illuminating of our lives because the simply factual can lead us to the deeply philosophical. They allow us to stop time, to preserve not only who we are but who we once were. … When you write, you connect with yourself, past, present, and future." (Anna Quindlen, Write for Your Life)
mkiyxxmi's review
3.0
mid. felt like a research paper or some conglomerate of facts / quotes. a good book, but not for me. if my dad asks, I really liked it, lol
fionatracey's review
5.0
I loved this book! I found it full of heartwarming and meaningful stories with an underlying positive message.
jellogirl2010's review
4.0
“Words are power”. This book made me realize that maybe, just maybe my collecting stories for 22 years and writing down every single mundane thing that happened to me - including crying during a pandemic - is not in vain after all. One day maybe the things I had to say will mean something to someone else. And so I’ll continue to journal. I hope someone will read this book and begin to journal too.
karnaconverse's review
3.0
A passionate plea to write letters, to journal, and to record personal stories and family histories