Writers take note: The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting from Frustration to Publication by Ralph Keyes, author of The Courage to Write has just come out… Keyes has written a book that is extremely useful to writers and would-be writers.
Read MoreUnlike so many writing manuals Ralph Keyes’ latest book deals with aspects of the writing process that are all too often ignored. The frustration and despair that at times overcome writers at all stages of writing. Packed full of examples of just how many big name writers have at one time or another despaired and struggled to get their work not only into print, but also into the hands of readers once it’s in print, provides aspiring writers with a healthy dose of hope – just as the title promises.
Now when I feel the submission (and rejection) blues, which I’m certain I will, I’ll just reach for Mr. Keyes book and at the very least be able to console myself with the fact that, once upon a time, even the blockbuster names we’re all so familiar with had to go through the very same thing
Read MoreMy friend Sharon sent me a book called The Writer’s Book of Hope. I love reading all the stories and examples because I feel such kinship with the people described. (Some of them are famous–John Grisham and me in the word trenches–think about it!) I wish I could have had this book during last week’s pity party, but I have it now.
Jill
Read MoreThis book really opened my eyes to the reality of the publishing world. It also helped dissipate a lot of anger and self pity I was feeling. Who knew you had to work this hard? Well, now I do. So it goes. I can now forge ahead without feeling so sorry for myself!
Read MoreBest Book for a Struggling Writer
If any of you are writing book addicts (are all writers or is it just me?) I would strongly recommend you get a copy of The Writer’s Book of Hope by Ralph Keyes. It’s all about the anxiety, frustration and despair that writer’s face every time they sit down to commit words to paper. . The books relates many accounts of the struggles now famous authors had to go through to find success and reminds us that even these successful authors still sit at their keyboard terrified that the words will dry up or that what they are writing is crap. It shows that everyone, whether a first-time novelist or seasoned professional is plagued by frustration that what they actually put on paper doesn’t come up to what they imagine in their head.
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Read MoreREALITIES OF WRITING ARE NO CAUSE TO LOSE HOPE
Mike Harden
As a champion of the writer’s art, he tries to avoid sounding like a cross between Dr. Phil and the preface of a Chicken Soup anthology.
“There are so many books out there that say all you need to do is meditate, do some affirmations, let your pen follow its course and you’re going to be a writer,” Ralph Keyes said.
The author of a dozen books and a writing instructor for three decades, Keyes, of Yellow Springs, has always endeavored to tread the path of “honest reassurance” that falls somewhere between sadistic Kathy Bates in Misery and “There, there. Everybody is going to be OK.”
Everybody is not going to be OK. Some will be infinitely better Wal-Mart greeters than wordsmiths.
Telling one from another still baffles Keyes, who would politely demur if asked to identify who might most benefit from his newly published The Writer’s Book of Hope: Getting From Frustration to Publication (Henry Holt, $13).
Students who didn’t have a whisper of a chance (in Keyes’ estimation) have published. And, he added, “I’ve had some so committed and so talented, and they end up selling real estate.”
Sorting posers and peacocks from the real producers is made no easier by the aura and allure associated with writing.
“I sometimes think there is nobody out there who is not a closet writer,” Keyes said.
No one ever boasts at a cocktail party, “I’m a frustrated urologist.”
Being an author is “the geek’s version of being a rock star,” Keyes said.
Still, he knows that some of the best-selling books of 2006 are yet a source of unfinished anguish to writers whose names have never crossed the lips of reviewers.
Accordingly, he penned The Writer’s Book of Hope for those writers to whom mornings sometimes begin with a coin-toss decision between pushing on or firing up the paper shredder.
“The hardest part of being a writer is not getting your commas in the right place but getting your head in the right place.”
Part of that process is dealing with discouragers, a topic to which he devotes an entire chapter.
“An Ohio State professor,” Keyes wrote, “told Harlan Ellison that he had no writing talent. By legend, Ellison sent this professor a copy of every one of the dozens of novels he proceeded to publish after dropping out from OSU.”
When, at 26, Margaret Atwood published her first collection of verse, her brother wrote: “Congratulations on publishing your first book of poetry. I used to do that kind of thing myself when I was younger.”
The chapter “Dealing With Discouragers” is immediately followed by one of equal importance, “Exorcising Excuses.”
In the latter, Keyes tries to steer would-be writers away from what he calls the “as-soon-as syndrome”:
As soon as the kids are grown, the dog dies, I leave my husband, I get a better computer or a pristine place to write.
Once it becomes clear that neither one’s dog nor one’s husband is going to die anytime soon, the next hurdle is the all-time bugaboo of scribes: writer’s block.
Keyes suggests using the same approach to writing that has made 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous successful for decades — one page at a time.
“Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish,” said Keyes, quoting author John Steinbeck. “Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day.”
Lower your standards, he suggests of overcoming writer’s block. He notes that even the immensely gifted Stanley Kunitz has confessed, “The poem in the head is always perfect.”
Ultimately, the best reason to follow Keyes’ advice may be not his 30 years of teaching the craft so much as the simple fact that he has moved on from publishing his 12th book to his 13th.
- Mike Harden is a Dispatch columnist
Read MoreI’ve read enough self-help and inspirational books, and books about writing, to last a lifetime, so when I spied The Writer’s Book of Hope at my public library, I hesitated. But the title caught my eye, and I ended up gulping it down it in a few sessions. I’m glad I did-it’s given me a new perspective on my writing practice. I’ve learned that frustration, cluelessness, and despair are a normal part of the writing process. And while I still encounter the same writing problems I did before, I’m more easygoing about them. It’s as if I’ve adopted a new attitude: “So I’m clueless at the moment-that’s OK, it will pass.” I’m much more at ease and confident of my abilities, and I’ve developed a broader perspective on the writing process-all of which is increasing my productivity and enjoyment at my typewriter.
The book is clearly the result of a lot of research. (Check out the photos on Keyes’ Web site showing the yards of file cabinets in his house.) Keyes doesn’t trot out the tired authors’ anecdotes that we’ve all heard before; he serves up a host of tidbits that were new to me. The quotes by masters (such as Tolstoy) about their lack of “talent” are alone worth the price of the book. I also appreciated Keyes’ no-nonsense tone. I was expecting New Age warmth and fuzziness, but Keyes pulls no punches. Take his observation that some people who give up writing do so not because they lack talent, but because they are uncomfortable spending long periods alone. That’s not a “nice” thing to say, but it’s truthful and important to know.
The Writer’s Book of Hope delivers on its promise. It provides practical hope and inspiration to writers based on a clear-eyed view of the writing profession. It gave me a new lease on my writing life.
Adam Schwartz, Bloomington, IN
Read MoreRalph Keyes’ The Writer’s Book of Hope manages to be most encouraging to any writer and very interesting to anyone else. This book is well-written, funny, challenging, consoling and very informative. If there is a writer who ever said anything interesting and provocative about writing, there is a good chance he or she is quoted in this book. We read Nobel Prize Winner Thomas Mann’s remark that “The writer is someone for whom writing is harder than for other people;” novelist Gail Godwin’s reflection about time spent writing with little energy and hope: “I find I have indeed written some sentences that wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t gone up to write them;” and a hundred others. Such observations encourage writers as they find their own doubts and frustrations mirrored in those who have overcome them. Perhaps most important, the writer realizes that he or she is part of the great fellowship of writers not because of publishing success, but through the simple act of showing up steadily to write. This is the central theme of the book: stay with your writing; don’t give up; don’t be stopped by mood, doubt, confusion or fear, and something will come of it. A writer who has this book next to the computer has a most helpful friend as company. Someone who gives this book to beginning, or even accomplished, writers has found a believable way to offer support and useable knowledge.
The book is full of clear information about subtle and direct discouragers of writing and about the availability of encouragers and where to find them. Keyes tells the writer how to get started, keep going, get help and how to finally find and influence publishers to get your book in print. Chapter titles include “Dealing with Discouragers,” “Exorcizing Excuses,” and “The Publishing Tribe.” Ralph Keyes has been teaching writing for over thirty years while himself publishing ten books and countless articles. The writer henefits from the experience and insight of a person who has watched hundreds of writing projects begin and far fewer achieve completion — and has learned what makes the difference.
Charles J. O’Leary, Ph.D, Arvada, CO
Read MoreThis book really opened my eyes to the reality of the publishing world. It also helped disapate a lot of anger and self pity I was feeling. Who knew you had to work this hard? Well, now I do. So it goes. I can now forge ahead without feeling so sorry for myself!
Heybubb, New York City
Read MoreThe Writer’s Book of Hope is an excellent antidote to the discouragement toxins that build up in writers over time. Actually, it’s a whole medicine cabinet of antidotes. Anxiety, Frustration, and Despair are part of the emotional experience of all writers, from beginners to established professionals, and Keyes offers a wide range of uplifting and motivating perspectives that will help writers to keep doing the work that nourishes them. This volume is every bit as good as Keyes’s previous title, The Courage to Write. Both are highly recommended.
Bruce Holland Rogers, Toronto, author of Word Work: Surviving and Thriving as a Writer
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