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    A Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
    A Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
    A Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
    Ebook375 pages4 hours

    A Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life

    By Judy Reeves

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    About this ebook

    First published a decade ago, A Writer's Book of Days has become the ideal writing coach for thousands of writers. Newly revised, with new prompts, up-to-date Web resources, and more useful information than ever, this invaluable guide offers something for everyone looking to put pen to paper — a treasure trove of practical suggestions, expert advice, and powerful inspiration.

    Judy Reeves meets you wherever you may be on a given day with:
    • get-going prompts and exercises
    • insight into writing blocks
    • tips and techniques for finding time and creating space
    • ways to find images and inspiration
    • advice on working in writing groups
    • suggestions, quips, and trivia from accomplished practitioners

    Reeves's holistic approach addresses every aspect of what makes creativity possible (and joyful) — the physical, emotional, and spiritual. And like a smart, empathetic inner mentor, she will help you make every day a writing day.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNew World Library
    Release dateAug 10, 2010
    ISBN9781577313120
    A Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
    Author

    Judy Reeves

    Judy Reeves is an award-winning writer and teacher whose books include A Writer’s Book of Days (named "Best Nonfiction" by the San Diego Book Awards and a “Hottest Books for Writers” by Writer’s Digest), Writing Alone/Writing Together, The Writer’s Retreat Kit, and Wild Women, Wild Voices. Her fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared many journals and anthologies. A long-time teacher of creative writing, she previously taught at UCSD Extension and has led community-based writing practice groups for thirty years. She teaches at writing conferences internationally and at San Diego Writers, Ink, a nonprofit literary center she cofounded. Her awards include those from the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild, San Diego Writer’s Festival, and The African American Writers & Artists Association. Mayor Jerry Sanders declared July 24, 2010 “Judy Reeves Day” in San Diego. Judy lives and writes in San Diego, amid bulging bookshelves and an ancient Underwood typewriter that claims its own social media fan base.

    Read more from Judy Reeves

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    Reviews for A Writer's Book of Days

    4/5

    63 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A really good source for ideas when I'm having trouble getting started writing. The author provides a short topic for each day of the year; she also provides writing tips.
    • 4/5
      A really good source for ideas when I'm having trouble getting started writing. The author provides a short topic for each day of the year; she also provides writing tips.
    • 4/5
      Reeves has put together a book with a lot of good prompts - they are short and not overly specific, and she's given one for every day of the year. Interspersed with these are bits of advice on finding time to write, being in and running writers' groups, avoiding writers' block (or getting stuck, as you like), and on generating new material. Some of the suggestions stray widely into the bizarre, such as when she suggests you walk around naked in your backyard; others are much more practical, such as keeping a notebook with you at all times and making notes of others' writing that particularly strikes you. Reeves advocates something called "writing practice" where every day you spend time writing freely and messily without editing or revising. This generates a body of material that can be mined and refined for stories, novels, essays, and the like. She places particular emphasis on silencing your inner critic and editor during these sessions, and saving those functions for later on. One notes, however, that the "later on" didn't quite occur with some of the passages in this book - there are some rather glaring typos, misused words, and odd sentence fragments that feel accidental rather than deliberate. It's distracting, especially in a book on writing.My main criticism of this book is that it takes on a familiar, touchy-feely vibe, not only with the nakedness, but also with its emphasis on how emotional writing is supposed to be and how in touch with one's feelings one ought to become. Reeves doesn't do a good job of expressing these things in a fresh way, and she's repetitive. She's also sort of the Martha Stewart of writing, with baskets of postcards and cut-up lists of sentences and words printed on card stock and whatnot. If you're trying to hold down a day job while you're writing, a significant portion of her advice is maybe not going to be so useful to you.Overall, though, it's a good resource, and I've found her prompts a lot more helpful than those in other, similar books - many have prompts that are either super-specific, totally ridiculous, or both, locking you into a factual scenario rather than opening up possibilities. Reeves's don't do that. That alone probably makes the book worth the price.
    • 5/5
      Great book full of writing exercises and inspiring notes.
    • 4/5
      This is a terrific book for getting a writer-wannabe writing. There is an abundance of discussion about writing itself - how to get motivated, how to write better, how to improve your writing habits, how to access your "inner muse". But in addition (and what was most appealing to me) there are writing prompts for every day of the year, along with monthly writing session. While I may not ever become a published writer, I have appreciated Ms. Reeves' book for getting me writing.
    • 5/5
      Really like the way this book is laid out. I have used this book to teach creative writing workshops for several years. One prompt for every day of the year plus very short chapters on a variety of topics. What is great is that you can continue to use the book year after year, because though the book does not change, YOU do!
    • 4/5
      A wonderful resource and a fun read.
    • 5/5
      How would you like a different writing exercise for every day of the year? This book delivers just that, but much, much more as well. You'll also find plenty of great quotations and advice from some of the top writers you know and love (and maybe even a few new ones!).
    • 5/5
      Inspiring. Encouraging. Simplistic. Clear. A book that is worth every second it took to read. This book truly guides you in your creativity and shines a light when your soul ventures too deep into the dark.
    • 5/5
      Great Book!
      very helpful and inspiring!
      give yourself the gift of reading this book and help
      your inner writer discover the true artist it has always been!
    • 4/5
      good article

    Book preview

    A Writer's Book of Days - Judy Reeves

    else.

    {JANUARY}

    Eighty percent of success is showing up.

    — WOODY ALLEN

    GUIDELINE 1

    KEEP WRITING

    The most important part of writing practice is writing, getting the words down on the page. Don’t stop to edit, to think, to rephrase, or to rewrite. If you keep your writing hand moving, you’ll bypass the censor, the editor, the critic, and if you’re lucky, maybe even the ego.

    This isn’t to say writing practice is stream-of-consciousness writing where you attempt to get down every thought that passes through your mind and the writing that emerges is a jumble of disconnected thoughts and images. During practice sessions, stay focused on the topic and the image that arises, and keep the pen moving as it explores that image and then moves on to the next. Sometimes you’ll rocket through the topic on a surge of power that started at liftoff and keeps you at warp speed the whole ride; other times your writing will be more like a lazy river on a Sunday afternoon, peaceful and easy and sun-dappled. The trick is to, at any speed, just keep writing till the end.

    Don’t stop to reread what you’ve written until you’ve completed the practice session. Each time you stop, you move out of the place of intuitive trusting to a cerebral place of judging, evaluating, comparing. There is a time for that, but not during practice sessions. Writing practice is for writing.

    Just keep the pen moving until the time is up, or until you feel complete.

    HOW TO START

    You’ve set aside the time, you’re sitting in the place you’ve chosen to do today’s practice session, and you’re comfortable. Maybe you’re with a writing friend. Pen and notebook are at hand, and you’re ready to begin writing. Here’s what you do:

    1. Proceed slowly and take care.

    2. To ensure that you proceed slowly, write by hand.

    3. Write slowly and by hand only about subjects that interest you.

    Date your page, find the topic for today’s session, and write it at the top of your page. Then, before you start to think about how you want to approach the topic, simply grab the tail of the first image that sailed into your mind when you wrote it down, and begin writing. Let the words spill from your pen easily and naturally. Don’t worry about staying in the lines; don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Don’t worry about anything. Just write. When you come to a natural slowdown, ease your grip on your pen (you may be surprised at how tightly you’re holding on). Breathe. Let the next image come to you. It may be an extension of the first image, or it may be something new that was born out of what you’ve been writing. Whatever image appears, don’t resist. Just fall into it, and keep writing.

    Above all else, don’t stop to think and don’t go back and reread what you’ve written. If you can’t think of the name of a place or a person or some other fact, make up something or draw a line. If you run into a blank wall, rewrite the topic, repeat the last line you wrote, or write, I don’t know what to write next. If you keep the pen moving, you’ll find your place again. Just keep writing until the time is up or until you feel complete. If you can, read your piece aloud after you’ve finished (see Guideline 11, p.

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