Discovering the Writer Within: 40 Days to More Imaginative Writing [Paperback]

Bruce Ballenger (Author), Barry Lane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1996

A 40-day "workout program" of imagination-stretching exercises that helps writers open up, release creativity and spark ideas.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Messrs. Ballenger and Lane, each coming from the non-fiction and fiction sides of the fence, respectively, take the Biblical "40 day" timeframe and slap a step-by- step program upon it, filled with exercises and techniques designed to make your "inner writer" face light of day, embrace confusion, develop an eye as well as an ear, and finally, face the ultimate test: writing regularly, even when you don't feel like it.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089879739X
• ISBN-13: 978-0898797398
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bruce Ballenger is the author of seven books, all works of nonfiction, including best-selling textbooks for first-year college writing. His latest book, Crafting Truth: Short Studies in Creative Nonfiction, is a study of how the best American creative nonfiction writers tell true stories. Ballenger has taught college writing for twenty-five years. He worked with Pulitzer Prize-winning essayist and teacher Donald Murray at the University of New Hampshire, where he earned his PhD. For the last fifteen years, he's been on the English faculty at Boise State University, where he teaches creative nonfiction, composition and rhetoric, writing for radio, and the literature of the essay. Ballenger lives in Boise, Idaho, with his wife Karen, and two daughters, Julia and Becca.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect starting point for beginner writers., May 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Discovering the Writer Within: 40 Days to More Imaginative Writing (Paperback)

Fantastic book for the person who can hear the writer inside them saying, "write something, write something..." but need a place to begin. I was in a writer's block when I picked up the book, lost from not having something assigned to me from a teacher or writing class. Once I started, I couldn't stop coming up with ideas. I have shared the book with friends who have always wanted to write and weren't sure they could, and now we discuss results over the phone. A really enjoyable book!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Starting Point For Ending Writer's Block, January 16, 2001

By 

Gail Willis "music maven" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discovering the Writer Within: 40 Days to More Imaginative Writing (Paperback)

This book allowed me to silence the internal critic in me that kept telling me that my feelings don't matter, aren't interesting, and probably aren't spelled right. :)

Overall, this book allows one to be freed from tyrannous writing rules. There are forty exercises in the book that guide you in essential techniques such as brainstorming, clustering, freewriting, and revision. This book allows one to open up their creative wellspring to pour forth a gusher of new ideas and possibilities.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 40 Days to Become a Writer, March 24, 2004

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Discovering the Writer Within: 40 Days to More Imaginative Writing (Paperback)

"Discovering the Writer Within" is like having a classroom in your backpack. It's organized by days, and each day starts with an exercise. This is followed by a section that briefly asks you questions about what you wrote. Following this comes a longer bit in which one of the two authors (Bruce Ballenger or Barry Lane--they initial these passages) discusses the exercise and its related principles at length.

Often the author will take the opportunity to share his own exercise results, complete with commentary on what works and what doesn't, why, and what the author got out of the exercise.

This book is primarily designed for those people who don't really call themselves writers yet. It's for people who aren't sure of what they're doing or how to go about getting started. If you haven't written professionally yet, if you still sit around wondering what you should do when confronted with a blank page, this could be the perfect book for you.

One of the better aspects of this book is the very personal voice it's written in. Usually co-authored books are written in a neutral voice in order to avoid noticeable differences between each author's work; in this case each author is allowed to retain his voice. Sometimes one or the other will even discuss his reactions to one of the other author's exercises. This very personal viewpoint is often exactly what's needed to convey the real lessons Ballenger and Lane are trying to teach. It also makes the material more interesting, and gives you the feeling that you really are sitting in a small classroom with an interesting and enthusiastic teacher.

Ballenger and Lane are teachers as well as writers, and it shows--in a good way. They neither kill your enthusiasm with criticism nor promise that evaluation and revision don't matter. They use their own experiences to show the ups and downs of being a writer, and the lessons to be learned therein.

To be honest, I really couldn't find any problem with this book. The only remotely negative thing I can think of is the fact that most of this book will be old hat to experienced writers--but then, it isn't aimed at experienced writers.