Customer Reviews

Write Mind PA: 299 Things Writeres Should Never Say Themselves ( What TheyShould Say Instead)

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"Write Mind: 299 Things Writers Should Never Say to Themselves (and what they should say instead)" is a book of affirmations - positive things you say to yourself in an effort to put yourself in a better frame of mind. This is a surprisingly versatile little book with a lot to say. It was written by psychotherapist, writer, and creative consultant Eric Maisel, author of two of my other favorite writing books--"Living the Writer's Life" and "Deep Writing."

Maisel's affirmations are surprisingly practical. They don't always tell us that we're right; they don't encourage us to adopt a blind, everything-is-okay approach to life. But they do encourage us to move on despite our problems. Not everyone agrees with the precepts of cognitive therapy. One of its implications is that we don't need to understand or address where our "bad thoughts" come from--we just need to address those thoughts. There are plenty of people who believe that until we figure out and address the root cause of our traumas, we can't be free of them. Maisel takes a balanced approach to this. He admits that he doesn't know for sure whether such a cause-based approach is better for you. But he does point out that trying a cognitive approach (on its own or as an adjunct to other therapy) can't hurt, and certainly might help, so why not give it a try?

Obviously not every affirmation will be right for you straight out of the box. The idea is that you learn how to create your own--ones that suit your particular issues and problems. The affirmations that Maisel provides will give you plenty of examples to start from, and he brings in a touch of humor here and there to lighten the mood. But perhaps this is best summed up by one of my favorite examples from the book:

Wrong Mind: "Dan just published another book. I'm going to Amazon right now and give it a terrible review."
Right Mind: "Let me get back to my novel."

This excellent book packs a great punch in a small space. Using simple but useful cognitive therapy techniques, Maisel presents pairs of ideas--worse ways and better ways for writers to think about the issues that confront them. It is amazingly beneficial to see these "wrong mind" and "right mind" statements side-by-side. Highly recommended!

This book is so hokey! I actually did get quite a few laughs out of it, but I don't think it was intended to be a joke book.