Customer Reviews

Writing and the Spiritual Life : Finding Your Voice by Looking Within

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This is a book about the process of writing and what it means, especially as a spiritual practice.

It is best consumed in small doses as the prose is dense with meaning. It is not dense like a scientific text, it is dense like a poem, not surprising because the author is, among other things, a poet. She is a widely-read one who quotes sources which were entirely unknown to me.

Chapters such as "Doubt and the Inner Critic," "Beginning A Writing Spiritual Practice," and my favorite, "Wordlessness In Writing Practice" (which a less imaginative sort might call writer's block) act as signposts for places that the writing pilgrim might find along the way. My favorite exercise is "Building an Altar of Uncertainty."

This book both invites and rejects comparisons with Natalie Goldberg's _Writing Down the Bones_. Vecchione doesn't give a fig, in the end, what it is that you write, only that you do write.

I imagine that the intended audience for this book is writers of poetry and fiction, but there is much in here of value to those whose primary writing is keeping a diary or journal. So do write, Dear Reader, but first, ponder this book.

This is such a great book! Vecchione has a gifted way of drawing you towards your soul and the stories only you can tell. She makes it obvious that we all have an important voice to share, and she gives you really helpful tools to access this. I can't recommend this book highly enough. I'd put it up there with Goldberg's Writing down the Bones and The Artist's Way. This is a book any person interested in writing should have in their collection.

As a creative writer and professor I have been looking for a good book to recommend on the self and writing for many years. This has been as we would say in Spanish a task as large as a cathedral. Why there are hundreds of books on how to write and reach within. What I find most useful about Patrice Vecchione's book, before I sit down to work on my novel is reading, perusing, rubbing a piece of the introduction on my literary wounds. Quotes from this book like these motivate me to keep peeling the onion of my deeper creativity.
Whether we need to write a letter to our long lost sister or a commentary of a children's Christmas program, this book allows us to see ourselves as the wisdom and creativity filled vessels we need to know we are in order to accomplish the writing task. I know it would have been impossible for a non-poet to write this book. It is a book able to take you into your own inner map of self, your own inner "book of every thing," and to help you delineate the borders of your rivers and jungles.

This is a wonderful book, combining the insights of a mature writer with the inspiration of an honest and courageous spiritually alert explorer. Vecchione honors the mysteries embedded in the mundane. She describes how everyday life can be transformed by writing into surprise and revelation. It's an honest book that will help many people name what they already know and nudge them to trust their imagination to guide them into the unknown. A great gift for a reluctant friend who needs an ally on a writing journey.

Without espousing a particular spirituality, Vecchione allows the reader to explore her/his own source of spiritual energy. This book inspires one not only to write; but to affirm all that is creative and beautiful in our lives. You will be a better person as well as writer for reading this book.

I have recommended and given this book to both writers and non-writers alike.

This an intelligent, honest, heartfelt book that does not hold anything back. Use it as a gentle guide to a wonderful process. I have it in my stack of "come back to fequently books". I use parts of it with my adolecent students and have given it as a gift to just about everyone I know, writers and adventurersome seekers, a like. Not your classic "how-to" book. It is much more. Full of wisdom that comes from loving writing and fully living life, this book is a rare find.

This book is the real deal written from the heart and soul of a working writer. Patrice Vecchione, a gifted teacher and storyteller, fills every chapter with wonderful and inspiring stories, quotes and advice from her own spiritual writing practice and that of both well-known and known-to-their-friends writers from the age of three to elders. This is a practical book, a friend to those in doubt or fear, with suggestions that point the way through the hard times. It is also a testament to joy and the love of words as a path to the divine. The luminous quality in her writing calls forth the mysterious depth in everyday life that so often goes unseen. And she does it all with humor and compassion.

I've just finished devouring Patrice Vecchione's newest book, Writing and the Spiritual Life. Although nonficiton, I couldn't put it down! I took it on a peaceful relaxing vacation so that I would have time to savor her words and try the writing exercises. I feel Patrice is a gifted writer. She has a poetic way of combining her own words and stories with quotes from many other writers, poets, philosophers, theologians and friends. This book would make a wonderful addition for any high school or college literature/writing class. Her writing ideas at the end of each chapter invite, even compel, the reader to try his/her hand at writng:Patrice inspires you to write and you must!

I ordered a used book, they said it was in excellent condition, just a little worn on the edging. It arrived looking like they said...I found it to be in wonderful condition, and well worth the price! Other companies were charging up to 2 or 3x as much for the new book but this one was just as good. I actually gave it as a gift and my friend didn't even realize it was used!

This an intelligent, honest, heartfelt book that does not hold anything back. Use it as a gentle guide to a wonderful process. I have it in my stack of "come back to fequently books". I use parts of it with my adolecent students and have given it as a gift to just about everyone I know, writers and adventurersome seekers, a like. Not your classic "how-to" book. It is much more. Full of wisdom that comes from loving writing and fully living life, this book is a rare find.