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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get Ready to Be Inspired, October 7, 2005
This review is from: Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within (Paperback)
Writing guides are tricky: They can be pompous, they can be technical, they can too basic or too specific. But in Pen on Fire, author Barbara DeMarco-Barrett has combined inspiration and practicality, creating one of the best how-to writing books I've ever read.
The subtitle of the book is "A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within," and some of the text definitely has a feminine slant. Women who work, who raise children, who have trouble taking time for themselves, are encouraged to write in any and all available chunks of time. Waiting for red lights, for the water to boil, in the dentist's waiting room, all can be opportunities to get words on paper, or in laptop.
But make no mistake - any aspiring writer, male or female, at almost any level, will benefit from spending time with Pen on Fire. DeMarco-Barrett begins on a gentle note, cajoling and urging and promising to guide us into a writer's life, even if it's in 15-minute chunks. She offers suggestions for mining your own life for ideas, for developing your knack for dialog by eavesdropping.
She even tackles the touchy issues of whether you should write about friends and family. How much should you make up? How much should you show them in advance? What if they read a journal and take offense? DeMarco-Barrett covers it all.
One of the greatest features in this book are the extensive use of interviews of well-known authors, whom DeMarco-Barrett meets while producing a Southern California radio show called Writers on Writing. There may be no absolutes when it comes to, say, discussing a work in progress, or how much plotting needs to be done in advance, or how much research is too much. But it's fascinating to hear from successful writers about how they manage their craft.
Each chapter includes a writing exercise, a manageable 15-minute task designed to tackle a specific writing issue. Some focus on possible first lines for a book, on descriptions, and on being more supportive of our efforts. After reading a chapter, some of the exercises are so tempting that it would be nice if this book were produced in journal form, so you could just start scrawling right then and there, without worrying about making notes in the margins or having to find a notebook.
Anyone who is interested in stoking their creativity, or finding a muse, or even in how "real" writers work on their craft will enjoy Pen on Fire. Those who give in and fall under DeMarco-Barrett's spell might even find themselves living a writer's life.
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70 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Learn-to-write-Lite, September 28, 2004
This review is from: Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within (Paperback)
For this reader, this how-to book on writing is sufficient for anyone (particularly a woman) who aspires to Chic-Lit or magazine articles in women's publications, but this author's approach belies the serious nature of a woman who truly desires the discipline to write professionally. Starting with the obligatory 15 minutes a day suggested by most teachers, the groundwork for any writing is universally understood to be that critical designated amount of time.
The author puts her finger directly on the pulse of the problem in the chapter on obstacles to writing. For example, she says that she had her cable TV removed from her home, because to have "a writing life", you must "spend all spare moments writing to get momentum going". This in itself is a major obstacle when for anyone with an active family.
My guess is that few families would be willing to give up access to television for their writer-in-residence. That discipline may be up to the writer; certainly it is possible to write in a location that is far removed from the family entertainment center.
DeMarco-Barrett also discusses the problem of housework vs. writing, but this, too is a specious argument. Add to this list the author's confessed addiction to email and whatever other incidentals interfere with the scheduled writing. It isn't helpful, once I am this far into the book, to address such issues so simplistically. The chatty format is user-friendly, but hasn't the weight of serious discussion, although I am aware that the author is appealing to her reader in this fashion by design.
DeMarco-Barrett mentions such details as the importance of rituals, workspace, and the chapter-by-chapter reminder to "set your timer". Unfortunately, chapter after chapter is written anecdotally, with an abundance of personal information, what comes very close to a patronizing approach. The criteria for me: does this author inspire me to start writing, to make that daily commitment to the daily ritual that will yield the success I desire. If not, this isn't the book for me. This then is the key, for the reader: if this book inspires you, you are on target and will find the impetus to begin actively practicing the writing life.
These are considerations each reader must decide. If writing is a new and tantalizing concept, this book can stimulate the reader to take the appropriate steps. For others, there are many other books to offer similar advice, albeit in a different format. In any case, writing is an intensely personal journey. We all need help, but at some point will have to fly alone. My one caveat: anyone can learn to write well, but not all of us are meant to be published writers. There is a real difference between good writing skills and the passion of the true writer. The point is not to be afraid, given the basic skills, to take the risk and find out. Again a very personal decision. Luan Gaines/2004.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How to Be a Writer Every Day, October 12, 2004
This review is from: Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within (Paperback)
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett's book is stuffed with tools for generating ideas, getting going, and staying with it. She not only gives excellent `big issue' advice-how to find time, physically sit down and write, persist when you can't see the road-but also shows how to live life with the awareness of a writer. Chapter after chapter contain information and tips on how to keep track of ideas, collect words you want to use, read with a writer's perspective, and other daily habits to help a new writer "be" a writer every day.
The 15-minute exercises at the end of each chapter are particularly wonderful, akin to practical meditations.
This book is aimed at busy women who want to start writing, but I think busy men and anyone who already writes can benefit as well. It is a great book, one that should live on the desk rather than the bookshelf.
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