Writing Open the Mind: Tapping the Subconscious to Free the Writing and the Writer (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Let's taste. Lying before you is a whole pandemonium of sideshow booths and three ring wing-ding extravaganzas..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Powerful writing comes naturally when a person's mind is energized, and when people are willing to take risks, experiment, and expect the unexpected. Writing Open the Mind guides the reader to the innate knowledge and surprising words that arise when a writer accesses the stream of consciousness.

Whether one is writing for publication, as a tool for psycho-spiritual discovery, as a playground for the imagination, or as a way to communicate with others, the program in this book releases the creative potential of the intuitive mind. The program includes a number of different "gateways" to the subconscious: the surrealist technique of "automatic writing," archetypal imagery from the Tarot, tuning in to the resonance of one's body, writing from diverse "genre voices," connecting with the luminous natural world, and scrambling word sequences to break the habit of making "sense" in a linear way. Writing Open the Mind is a lively, irreverent guide that adds playfulness and promise to writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ulysses Press; illustrated edition edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569754764
• ISBN-13: 978-1569754764
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #837,247 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 241 page idea book full of creative approaches to the process of writing, September 3, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Writing Open The Mind: Writing Open The Mind: Tapping The Subconscious To Free The Writing And The Writer is a 241 page idea book full of creative approaches to the process of writing. For both the serious professional writer and the creative personal journalist, Writing Open The Mind could be just what the writing workshop doctor ordered. Quirky, humorous, irreverent, yet filled with practical tips and exercises to jog loose the cobwebs and stopping places of the mind, Writing Open The Mind delivers more valuable writing gold for the miner than many a heftier, loftier tome. Perhaps what works best in Writing Open The Mind is in fact its underlying sense of playfulness. For example, who would you respond to the idea of triggering new 'mindstates' with use of hypnotic scents, lights, and sounds? If this intrigues the writer in you, read chapter four, 'Sway'. How about the notion of resequencing the mind, shuffling the nuggets, splicing things differently? Read chapter three, 'Shatter/Scramble. 'Other mind unblocking approaches include dropping into the deep subconscious, pushing against the boundaries of your work, architectures, prismatics, writing from the kindetic body (or 'Shaking Up the Curmudgeon'), and re-visions, a way to work on writing using the improvisational mind. Author Couturier also suggest working with a writing group, and inventing your own experiments. Couturier deftly quotes a gaggle of creative writing bylines in such a way as to highlight the energy unblocking magic implicit in each one. In the last chapter subsection titled 'The Secret Order of Hermeneutics and the Text of the World' he openly advocates his major agenda: "We write to understand. Thus we should write. But we can never fully understand...Thus we should keep writing (p.234)." He goes on to explain the hermeneutic circle, which is what writers do when they write, attempt to understand and interpret the world. He writes: "When we ask questions in our writing in a way that replicates the complexity of the world, the questions are better questions. That's why the writing experiments here try to replicate the complexity of this very world (p. 235)." Writing Open The Mind is a most enjoyable magician's toolbox of techniques to help the writer improve his/her writing. It deserves to be read at least twice, once for entertainment and once for understanding.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and wise and utterly inspiring, October 27, 2005

By	Kimberley Sevcik (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Writing Open the Mind feels more like an invitation to a party of the imagination than a teaching guide. Andy Couturier reminds us that writing isn't an exclusive club for a few anointed geniuses--no pedantry or hushed reverence about the written word here. His goal is to inspire would-be writers to release the inhibitions that breed creaky, predictable prose and to find pleasure and freedom in writing, and he has a gift for doing it. Through playful, inventive exercises and the example of his own boundary-leaping prose, he leads aspiring writers to the places inside where they will find resonant narratives and authentic, original ways of saying what they want to say. His encouragement and his excitement about the written word is infectious, and it does exactly what it's mean to do; it makes you want to dash to the keyboard (or pick up a pen) and write.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tickle open your mind, October 10, 2005

By	Dr. Lisa Herman (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Andy Couturier's book made me giggle, scratch my head and go straight to the computer and get to work. I did some of the exercises and I will do more. Mainly, it's Andy's love of words and his ability to construct sentences that make perfect sense while at the same time sing, in a zany kind of way, that I found inspiring. After playing in these pages, you just gotta write something.