Customer Reviews

Write Starts: Prompts, Quotes, and Exercises to Jumpstart Your Creativity

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Just as the subtitle describes, this is a book of prompts, quotes, and exercises to jumpstart your [writing] creativity. If you've ever read any of Bennet's other books, you already know what a fine writer he is, and this book is no exception. Compact and designed to be used randomly, each creative exercise averages five pages (some are only one or two pages); long enough to get under your creative skin, but not enough to distract the writer from her job of writing.

There is something for everyone here: fifty exercises that will get your juices flowing, ranging from exploring the creative process, to writing from an animal's perspective, to using tarot cards, to creating alternate realities, to suspending disbelief, developing characters, and so forth. As a successful working writer for thirty years, the author has developed a pleasing flow and cadence to his writing, which shines through even in a book such as this. The book concludes with an annotated bibliography and a list of Internet resources for writers.

Practical and poignant, any writer will be able to find herself--or her muse-- somewhere within these pages.

The first time I picked up this little gem of a book, I had an "ah-hah" moment that jump-started my writing. The second time I picked it up, same thing. Now every morning when I sit down at the computer to write, I open Hal Zina Bennett's book first. It works every time. "Write Starts" is a gift that just keeps giving.

Write Starts: Prompts, Quotes, and Exercises to Jumpstart Your Creativity [Paperback] By: Hal Zina Bennett (Author) -- At one time, writing was slow and awkward for me. My assignments at work forced me to write, but each article and paper was a tedious torment. Hal Zina Bennett's book, recommended by an author friend of mine, turned my writing life completely around.

Write Starts: Prompts, Quotes, and Exercises to Jumpstart Your Creativity brings the great craft of writing directly to your desktop. The book explains how the writing process works (and why it sometimes can not work). With those insights at my fingertips, and using Hal Zina Bennett's simple exercises and techniques, I began to write faster, more often, with more creativity, flooded with inspiration and less fear. I was set free from the shackles of writer's block. And now, I can truly enjoy professional writing, full-time -- something that would have been unimaginable before I read Write Starts. Reviewed by: C.J. Good, Author

...that is, if you are serious about being a writer. Hal Zina Bennett has done a clever and creative job at assembling a book that enables any writer to produce something every day of her life. It starts with this book: flip through its pages, stop at random (let your intuition guide you), read a few paragraphs or the entire page, then start writing. You'll be stunned by what emerges. I'm producing vignettes that lead me back to the novel I've been working on -- all in very unexpected ways. I've shared "Write Starts" with my writing group and we're now using it to start our weekly gatherings. That's another beauty of this wonderfully crafted book: you can use it alone or with others, and isn't that a reflection of the best kind of material that a writer can use? I don't know where Hal gathers his material but the range here reflects the wisdom of one of the best teachers and mentors there is. Thank you, Hal, for gifting us with this wonderful collection!

Hal Zina Bennett's "Write Starts" nudges and guides writers on a journey towards greater mastery...and, well, fun, within the serious work of writing. I love the witty play of words and ideas in this no-nonsense collection of how to get going.

Praise heaped on Hal's work from luminaries in the fields of creativity, intuition, and writing is not just hype. It's all there in his track record (30 years as a working writer; author of more than 30 successful books; editor/ghost-writer/collaborator/coach who has developed over 250 books). It's all there in these 192 pages of playful and wise guidance.

Besides offering advice Hal's writing shows mastery while telling us how to achieve it. He doesn't need to get fancy. It's his clear, straight-forward, direct ideas and language that renders his prose so elegant and useful.

I'd like to use Hal's exercises in "Write Starts" as group games at a writers' party. What joy we'd find in the limitless results we'd each produce. He takes familiar writer's problems like developing character and dialogue then tweaks them with a new twist that makes you think again.

Throughout "Write Starts" Hal makes the connection between writing and life. How to make a solid and productive writing life for yourself. How to make your writing come alive to others through your courage, consistent practice, and craft. This book can help writers of all genres and stages of development to just get on with it gracefully.

Janet Grace Riehl

Write Starts is a delightful smorgasbord of a book, overflowing with sustenance and suggestions for writers to call on when their creative juices appear to have stopped flowing temporarily. A longtime writer and writing coach, Hal Zina Bennett intimately understands the frustrations that writers of any genre can experience when inspiration hits a road block, and his book offers a host of practical and enjoyable exercises to help break through the blockage. Write Starts is an invaluable resource that writers at any level of experience will want to keep nearby and call on frequently.

A friend loaned me his copy of this book. I read a little and tried a few suggestions. Then I realized that I needed my own copy. I'm not all the way through it, in fact, it's made for picking up and opening anywhere. I'm finding in it a creative approach to how I nudge my creativity when it's somewhere else. I have other books on writing daily and books that give me encouragement. This one nestles right there, too. It's on that "support my writing" bookshelf. These are great little pages with thought-provoking topics. And, each is not too long. I can read a topic, get a little boost and some fun ideas to help get the ink flowing again on the page. Give it a look.

This book has worked out just great for me in my classroom. My students, and I, have found some inspiring starts here.

I have only had this book for a few days and already used it quite a bit. It is nicely written with great ideas. The cover caught my eye and I am so glad it did. I look forward to all the ideas shared in the book.

Written by a skilled author of more than 30 books, this book is a valuable addition to my bookshelf. Every writer can benefit from prompts and new ways of approaching problems in their work, whether fiction or non-fiction. This book provides creative suggestions, encouragement and more.