Room to Write [Paperback]

Bonni Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 16, 1996

What makes someone a writer? A writer writes, expressing the world through synthesis of mind and magic, sensuality and spirit. With both humor and reverence, Room to Write playfully prevails on us to experience the world through a writer's eyes, and respond to the creative sparks that charge good writing.

In two hundred daily essays, the author invites the reader--whether an experienced writer or someone just starting out--into the crucibles from which creative writing erupts: emotion, imagination, intellect, and soul. Once there, she urges the reader to grab a pen, grasp a keyboard, and seize the moment when perception fires revelation and language becomes art.

Each page features an essay exploring an aspect of the writing process, an exercise to get the reader writing, and a quotation to tickle the mind and keep the writing going. Ultimately, readers learn about how they write, and how to trust their intuition.

Room to Write is a collection of beguiling provocations, an irresistible invitation to all those who believe that writing, like any creative endeavor, is a way of life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bonnie Goldberg called her compact writing workbook Room to Write, she says, "because each page is a door into one of the places from which creative writing emerges: imagination, emotion, intellect, and soul." The phrase "room to write," she adds, "also refers to creating room for your writing." Goldberg provides 200 of the page-long writing lessons, "designed to be reusable," which offer as many different ways to get into your writing. Each discusses an aspect of life and writing, followed by an assignment and an inspirational quotation from a writer or other creator. Though Goldberg tends toward the spiritual, her assignments involving things such as snot and bathrooms keep the book grounded as well. Among the more interesting assignments here are those that have you "write about the first time words profoundly affected you"; "write only lies"; "retrieve an unspoken exchange and have it out on the page"; "be exhaustive in your detailing of something ordinary, like a teaspoon"; and "write about some quality in yourself you are not proud of." --Jane Steinberg

About the Author

Bonni Goldberg is a poet and essayist. Her essays, articles, and poetry are widely published in newspapers, magazines, and journals, including The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Jewish Times, Art Calendar, Washington Review, Antioch Review, Florida Review,and Maryland PoetryReview. She is the author of a chapbook, Myths: Second Sight and In Other Words, an audio tape. Bonni developed and coordinated the Creative Writing Program for Johns Hopkins University Continuing Studies and she founded and directed the 33 Literary Series in Baltimore, Maryland. She has been selected as an NEA artist in residence for Howard County, Maryland. Bonni received her B.A. and M.A. in creative writing from The Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher; 1st Edition, 4th Printing edition (April 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874778255
• ISBN-13: 978-0874778250
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.6 x 6.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #668,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Muse will love this! April 29, 2002

By "siammuse"

Format:Paperback

I don't know about you... but I need a bit of inspiration to write.
I can't just start writing about nothing-

Or could I?

Bonnie Goldberg gives an interesting tool with "Room to Write"
Even writing about nothing can become something!

Four rules"
1. Show up on the page
2. Give up control
3. Make room for your writing
4. Remove the obstacle "FEAR and SELF-JUDGMENT" from your
vocabulary.

That's it! Now write.

Oh, do you need ideas? Bonni Goldberg gives us one for
everyday of the year.

What are your feelings on these subjects?

Snot, Eat it, Lies, Only in your dreams, O God!, Inside out, Mama Mia, What a Joke, Body talk, Breasts, Silence....

WOW! That is only skimming the top.

They get my creative juices flowing... And I had a great time writing about snot.

I remember Sylvia Plath had written about it in one of her
journals and It was beautiful.
Imagine.
A good, imaginative writer can make even snot sound intriguing!

So...every single day you have a new idea for writing...
for instance, on November 5, the assignment was-

"LIES" Today write about lies. Lies you have told and, in
retrospect, what motivated you to withhold the truth.

I've had this book in the car, at work, at the dentist office, on holiday, and in the bathtub! It is waterlogged, shaded in yellows and greens and vivid pinks. It is dated and hung together by paper clips. It has been used and used again. Does a writer ever really get enough writing done!? Even when I was done with the last exercise, I started all over again on page one,
"Diving In"

A different day brings new surprises and ideas. The writing is never the same...or at least, it shouldn't be.

Goldberg says..."Writing, like any spiritual undertaking, has many paths, but only one direction---Deeper."

How deep? As deep as you can go. Drown if you must!

So...
on with your writing assignments...which will build into essays, short stories, and maybe one day a great novel.

"Explore every room. Listen to yourself. Trust what you hear."
---GOLDBERG---

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carry your writing coach in your pocket! April 16, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Writer's block will become a thing of the past as
you open this pocket-sized book to any page and put
your pen to paper or your hand to the keyboard!

While this book is small in size, it is enormous
in content...with creative writing practices that
run the gamut from intrinsically simple to those
that are spiritually moving.

There are 200 exercises to get your mind working,
the words flowing, and perhaps develop a few new
perspectives.

A must for every writer's library!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must for new and seasoned writers alike! December 30, 1996

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

"Room to Write" is like having a personal writing trainer that fits in your pocket! The book is filled to overflowing with wonderful invitations to write ... authentic exercises for stretching your imagination and improving your craft. This delightful book is non-linear, so feel free to open it to any page and let your creative energy flow.

Beginning writers, professional writers, and writing teachers will be inspired to stretch their wings and try new experiences in writing prose, poetry, and more! "Room to Write" is a terrific tool for overcoming writer's block, or for warming up when you sit down to write. Bonni Goldberg's collection of inspirational quotes, which close each page-long exercise, is priceless. My personal favorite is from Anne Tyler: "I've never quite believed that one chance is all I get. Writing is my way of making other chances."

Victoria Claire ([e-mail])