Julia Cameron's New Book for Writers

I read somewhere that Julia Cameron, author of the famed The Artist's Way, had a new book  titled Write For Life, subtitled Creative Tools for Every Writer. Coprrighted in 2022. I checked with my local library, but they did not have it. I put in a request for them to purchase the book. They did, and I was the first to check it out. 

I went through the book over the weekend. Ms Cameron divided the book into six sections, suggesting that the writer-reader work on each chapter, or section, for one full week before moving on to the next. 

Chapter titles are: 

Week One:  Priming the Pump

Week Two:  Begin Where You Are

Week Three:  Trust Your Process

Week Four:  Resist Your Resistance

Week Five:  Dismantle Your Perfectionist

Week Six:  Celebrate Your Achievement

At the end of each weekly section is a list of Tasks and another called Check-In which is pretty much the same questions after each chapter. 

This is not a book dealing with the mechanical part of writing, of how to write, and what writing tools are needed. Instead, the book explores the art and practice of writing. The author discusses the personal part of being a writer--how we look at the writing world, how we react to it, and what we might set our sights on.

Ms. Cameron is probably best known for an exercise she calls Morning Pages. It's a simple exercise that she suggests a writer do every morning, even if you must set your alarm clock for 30 minutes earlier than usual. Find a comfortable chair, 8 x 11 notebook and pen in hand. Then write in longhand whatever comes to mind. It might be what you see out the window, what happened the previous day, what is on the schedule for that day, someone you spoke to the day before. Whatever comes to mind. She suggests you write three full pages. Repeat the process each morning. Her theory is that this will release the writer in you and prepare you for writing that day. 

I must admit that several years ago, I tried Morning Pages, but I didn't stay with it for any length of time. I allowed life to get in the way. It takes discipline, but those I know who follow this program feel it is of great help to their writing life.

In Write for Life, Morning Pages take a starring role once again. Prayer and the spiritual part of being a writer are featured in the weekly program. Examples of one on one visits with other writers are also a segment the book. 

Many of the topics Ms Cameron covers are the same ones I have featured here on my blog. Things like trusting yourself, to stop being a perfectionist, handling rejection, to be positive rather than negative, stop resisting yourself as a writer, and being proud of your achievements. 

The author writes in an informal way, inviting you into her home and the places where she writes her Morning Pages, lunches and dinners with other writers which serve to illustrate a point, and more. 

This is not a book for someone wanting to learn the mechanics of writing, but instead, a book that reaches the personality and the soul of a writer to help shed negative habits. It's meant to help writers celebrate themselves as a writer. It aims to get rid of difficult personality traits some writers have so that they can be productive.