The Observation Deck: A Tool Kit for Writers (Past & Present) (Paperback)

~ Naomi Epel (Author) "On Monday, November 16, 1959, Truman Capote turned to page thirty-nine of The New York Times and found, hidden in the middle of the page,..." (more)
Key Phrases: Paris Review, Writers Dreaming, Pulitzer Prize-winning (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Observation Deck is kind of like an I Ching for writers. At an impasse in your essay or novel? Looking for a new approach or even merely a warm-up exercise? Simply pluck a card from the deck, refer to the appropriate section in the accompanying book, and go with it. Each card--there are 50--is accompanied by a meditation on its subject by Naomi Epel, whose own warm wisdom is supplemented by that of the hundreds of writers she has met in her role as a book-tour escort in San Francisco. For the card labeled "Get specific," for example, Epel calls upon eight writers in the space of a two-and-a-half-page rally against the vague and superficial. Among them is Gabriel García Márquez, who advises, "If you say that there are elephants flying in the sky, people are not going to believe you. But if you say that there are four hundred and twenty-five elephants in the sky, people probably will believe you." --Jane Steinberg

Review

In her incarnation as literary escort, Naomi Epel had the opportunity to ask more than 100 authors how they overcame writer's block. These inventive tips are now available as 'The Observation Deck,' a set of 50 cards containing suggestions for loosening up the imagination and tweaking the urge to write when it goes into hibernation. Users of the deck can create their own cards to add to the pile as they experiment with what motivates them and provides helpful perspective. This synchronistic writing tool can be used alone or with a group and is perfect for anyone who wants to bypass creative fears and just plain have some fun. -- Bloomsbury Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811814815
• ISBN-13: 978-0811814812
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #325,893 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative tool for right-brained, attention-deficit scribes, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

I don't read software manuals. I also don't take much to lengthy, sequential how-to tomes. And I certainly don't have the patience for most of the windy, eliptic BS that passes for writing advice these days.

I'm like a lot of people who sling words for a living, I think. Right brained, non-linear, and intuitive. (Or as my better half would put it: illogical, disorganized, and flaky.)

Imagine my curiosity when I read about THE OBSERVTION DECK...and then my delight when it turned out to be as downright useful as I suspected it might be.

Do what I just did. Take the leap and get this book. Yank a card...any card...and feel those tenuous abstract notions take perceivable form. Maybe not right away...but the subconscious river will be flowing a little more freely...and productively.

A very cool way to hammer writer's block. Expend a minute or a few hours. What works for those more renowned others seems to work for me...somehow.

I'm guessing that it will for you too.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable tool, June 20, 2001

By	D. Swensen "No one in particular" (Manifesto, MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'll make this brief: after struggling with writer's block, lack of inspiration, and listless attempts at writing for months, I picked up The Observation Deck in the hopes that it might jump-start my creative fires. The same night I opened it up and read the book, I sat down and penned three thousand words, with ideas for many thousands more swimming around in my head.

I have a feeling I'll soon be wondering how in the world I got along without this little deck of cards. I wholly recommend this deck if your creativity is suffering, you need a fresh perspective, or just want to put a new spin on your writing. I have found it to be an invaluable tool -- some of the best money I've spent in quite a while.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Handy and useful, April 18, 2003

By	Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

... my husband heard Naomi Epel interviewed on NPR right after The Observation Deck was published. He ordered it for me as an I-love-you present, and I've used it ever since. The cards are a little ratty and dirty at the edges now from so much fingering and fiddling.
Of course, not all of the suggestions for unlocking the Writer Within are useful to a specific individual, but I found at least 75% of them to be applicable to writers of all genres, both fiction and nonfiction.
The success of The Observation Deck is proof of the adage: Writers write - because sometimes it's not so much what you write as it is the fact that you're writing at all...