Main

Contents

Excerpt

Reviews

Press

Colleagues

Readers

Internet

Purchase

Internet Postings

A book I recently read that you might enjoy is The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes.  I found it very comforting to discover that virtually all writers, even the “greats,” are frequently near-paralyzed with fear at any or all stages of the writing process.  Yes, it may be fear of failure, but there’s often more to it than that.  I recommend it highly.

Ralph Keyes says in his book The Courage to Write to use the fear.  That’s what they taught me in boot camp too.  So don’t exorcise the fear, exercise it!

The next day was more normal … started with a little tennis, a little lunch, a trip to Davis-Kidd (my absolute favorite bookstore, at least east of the Rocky Mountains J.  Found a great book called The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes (Henry Holt publisher). 

If you liked Bird by Bird, I might also suggest The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes.  It’s not as funny, but hits the issues on target.

Read the book The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes … He tackles the issue [of offending those you write about] head-on by explaining that this is just one of the perils of writing.  He suggests flattering your family, friends or other “fictional” subjects, by telling them you would like to write about them.  Typically people don’t object, he believes.  

I’m not one to read books about writing, but I’ve made some exceptions lately to help with my career reversal.  I read an interesting one recently titled The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes.  Some of the thoughts in this book on how writers confront and deal with fear actually helped me swallow and savor the lump in my throat when I gave my “I’m outa here” speech to the editors of the magazine that has employed me for seven years and more.

The book is rich both in thoughtful insights on the nature of the fears professional writers face each morning and in anecdotes about how successful writers have dealt with those fears. 

You might want to check out a wonderful book called The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes.  It’s about how one’s own fears affect writing and how we as writers can make use of those fears.  I found it very helpful.

Regardless of whether you are interested in writing, this is an excellent book.