Book Review: THE WRITER'S PROCESS

Title: The Writer's Process: Getting Your Brain in Gear

Author: Anne H Janzer

Publisher: Cuesta Park Consulting

Pages: 200

My GoodReads Rating: 

It was a 10^th anniversary edition with many changes, including chapters on AI, and chapters re-written on the basis of newer research on writing, and the author’s own experiences in the field. The edition is quite different from the first one, given that the author’s own writing has evolved. Her goal, she says, is to help us find the writing process that is suited to us, the process that makes our sentences sing.

I’ve only recently begun to hone in on my own writing process. Here, the author talks about her own writing process, a mix of reading about the subject, and taking notes, outlining, writing in sprints of 90 minutes or less. The book isn’t specific to fiction. The writer writes from her experience as a marketing writer in the technology industry, who has written blog posts, website copy, case studies etc.

The book is divided into three parts. Parti I is The Writing Brain, where we learn to motivate the Muse and strengthen the Scribe. Part II is called A Recipe for the Writing Process. Part III is called The Writing Process in Real Life.

 

WHAT I LIKED:

The author explains how we need both the Muse, the creative process, and the Scribe, the analytical one. Successful writers work with both the Muse and the Scribe in parallel. So our inspiration and creativity are boosted by discipline and focus. We cannot have one of these overpowering the other.

She speaks about the merits of Open Attention, as opposed to Focused Attention. In Open Attention, the brain is allowed free rein to play with random elements and make connections between things that the conscious mind cannot. Her ideas for enabling the Muse to assert itself and allowing the Scribe to weigh in are sound.

Her suggestions about how to induce a state of “flow”, in which the Muse and the Scribe work together, are welcome.

The author substantiates her theories through true examples and the results of research studies into processes. She says that

 

A quote I liked:

What can we offer as writers if not our own slant on the world, unique to our experiences, stories and lenses on life?

 

The author likens the process of writing to baking bread, where there is a basic process that must be followed, but there can be untold variations that yield varieties of baked goods. Through each pf the stages, the Muse and the Scribe work in phases. The author’s analogy to describe this process is like soccer teammates, passing a ball back and forth as they cross the field. The better the passing game, the more successful the team.

A lot of it seemed more for non-fiction writing, but I tried to see where I could use it in fiction.

In the chapter on AI in the Writing Process, the author addresses the question of where, how and when one might use AI. I don’t use AI in my writing or even in ideation, but I read the chapter to see what her views on it were. She recommends trying to understand the technology to figure out what the model is trying to do and how it is achieving it and also what context it is applying to your work. She advises not giving up responsibility, particularly on high-stakes writing projects.

In Part III, the author shows us how to deal with common problems like Procrastination, Perfectionism, Writer’s Block and Imposter Syndrome. 

 

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME:

The chapter on AI.

 

ALL SAID AND DONE:

A useful read. The section I liked the best was the one about inviting the Muse in and getting the Muse and Scribe to work together.

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)