Customer Reviews

The Writer's Idea Book

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A review from the author of DREAMING YOUR REAL SELF and DREAM BACK YOUR LIFE.

If you ever wanted to write and didn't know what to write about or how to start, this book is for you. Jack Heffron offers more than 400 writing prompts that are sure to spark your interest and desire to put pen to paper-without your feeling limited by the suggestions. He assures you that you will put your personal touch on each one.

If you love to write and have no shortage of ideas, but you'd like a fresh start or a new angle, this book is inspiring in its abundance and originality. Heffron's text is down-to-earth and informative while being realistic about our fantasies about writing compared with the reality. His personal asides are witty and humorous, encouraging us to try the prompts without taking them too seriously.

This is a book I will recommend to my students and writer friends, including those who say they are never blocked. I'm taking this book with me on my next vacation.

Jack Heffron's "The Writer's Idea Book" is a very good specimen of a book of writers' exercises. It mixes "prompts" of various sorts (more than 400 of them according to the cover, and I believe it!) with short riffs of practical advice on a wide range of writing matters. While Heffron is a professional editor and does give advice regarding methods that he believes work best, he concentrates on writing for yourself in this book rather than trying to get published. This is just the idea phase after all--check out his later book, "The Writer's Idea Workshop," for practical advice regarding taking your idea from raw ore to refined metal.

There are many prompts meant to help you mine your own experiences for ideas and plots. (As well as your likes and dislikes, your family, your home town, places you've visited, "public moments," secrets, dreams, and more.) There are prompts to help you explore different forms of writing, structure your story, and more. There are even good solid hints on dealing with openings and endings. The huge number of prompts in this book guarantees that you should be able to find something to spark your creativity no matter what mood you're in.

In fact, about the only thing that bothered me about this book was the lack of the unusual. I love genre. Horror, science fiction, fantasy--I love the strange, and this book had a very "literary" feel to it. That'll make it perfect for many other writers out there, but it left me a little flat. I like to have a certain otherworldliness come into play when looking through lots of writing exercises and warm-ups. This book is meant to push you into finding inspiration from the ordinary rather than the extraordinary; I would have liked a better balance.

It's certainly a fun book, however, and definitely a kick in the inspiration department!

If you feel as though your writing is stuck you must get your hands on this book. And if you're not stuck, you'll be relieved to know that you never have to be. The book is organized into fours steps: warming up, generating ideas, finding form, and developing the story (or article) which eases you into a finished piece that feels fun (because it is!). Heffron has packed 255 pages full of over 400 writing prompts for writers of any genre, or just to play with in your journal. Play with them for a while and you WILL start calling yourself a writer.

This is a fantastic book! It covers all of the areas that many writers have problems with, and helps you get through them. Mary Heaton Vorse once said, "Writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair" and this book agrees. This book is full of prompts designed to get your juices flowing, and above all, get you writing! Even the most die-hard procrastators and people who are very afraid of writing anything uless it's perfect (like me)will be writing in no time. Most of all, this book showed me that you don't have to be published to be a writer. Any one who writes is a writer. Buy this book, you'll be happy you did.

For the past year and a half I have had a major case of writer's block. My inspiration to write something creative had ceased, and felt like more of a burden to do. I got a hold of the Idea Book, and forced myself to read the first 5 pages. I was hooked and immediately started writing journals, poetry, short stories, and other pieces that have helped me tap into my creative resources. I now have the motivation to write every night for at least an hour, and just in two weeks I have written over 15 pieces of original work. The book makes it easy for you to develop your thoughts and write them down in your own special style.

I've read a LOT of writing books in my time, but this is hands down the BEST. The author goes beyond the basics and really makes you stretch your creative talents. Through it all, he maintains a very personal tone, almost as if he's talking right to you. I feel like I've known Jack Heffron for years!

Writers encounter many speed bumps in their projects that can slow down their progress. "The Writer's Idea Book" is designed to get you past those rough spots and make the creative process a little easier.

The book features over 400 prompts to enhance your writing. Plus, each section examines the tricky aspects of writing and how you can overcome them successfully.

Part I begins with how to get started on your writing track. Sections deal with showing up, acknowledging the difficulty, enemies of creativity, leading a creative life and what to do when you're stuck. Each section has related prompts so you can get the most out of the advice given.

Part II shows you how to explore your writing as well as you as a writer. A large amount of prompts help you discover the many faces of you, romantic love, secrets and lies, the spirit of your stories and more.

Part III, appropriately titled "Finding Form," takes you deep into the writing craft. Character development, shaping space and time, point of view, setting, openings and endings are all covered in a way new writers and more seasoned writers can both benefit from.

Part IV covers "Assessing and Developing." Heffron shows the need for writers to up the stakes, consider the reader, study their tone and understand theme.

Each section approaches a key aspect of getting the most out of the written word. Prompts that follow each section are directly related to your reading all through the book so you get relevant practice with your own writing.

"The Writer's Idea Book" has quickly become a favorite among writers, no matter what their experience level. The thought-provoking prompts alone make this a valuable tool any writer can use for their own projects.

But watch out! This book will spark so many ideas, you'll be backlogged on writing projects.

Not since Bird by Bird have writers enjoyed a book so full of insight and expertise as this offering by Jack Heffron. His knowledge of the craft combined with his passion for the written word have created a book I will recommend to each of my students and clients. Thank you, Writer's Digest, for making this book of prompts and practical text a pleasurable reality. --Robyn Weaver, Book Doctor/Writer

No excuses for writer's block when this book is handy. Just let the book drop, open to any page and read a "prompt", any prompt. The author is generous with his ideas to stimulate the writer's mind. Just start writing and let your mind, and fingers, wander with the writer's fodder presented. So many ideas, prompts and exercizes, you'll never run out as just one of these paths can lead you everywhere.

Well written with kind words and gentle prodding for the writer in you.

With over 400 prompts in this book there is one to suit every mood and these will not only encourage you to write regularly but get your creative juices flowing. What's more each of the prompts target specific areas of your writing such as story endings, developing character & plot. It also addresses nonfiction, poetry & screenplays...and I am using it to improve my blog writing.
I own a number of books on this topic (including "What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers") but find the format and content of Jack Heffron's Writers Idea Book to be the most practical, inspiring and effective. Thanks Jack!