I'd Rather Be Writing (Paperback)

by Marcia Golub (Author) "Writers are a peculiar breed..." (more)
Key Phrases: story envelope, Evan Russell, Madison Smartt Bell, Lore Segal (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Golub...shows us how to find "time in the cracks" between family, career, and shopping to perfect the craft, capture those flashes of brilliance, and have a really great time doing it. From the reluctance to actually start a work to the resistance against ever finishing it, she grabs hold of the writer's soul and shows us we are not alone in the silly avoidance games we play. She devotes an entire chapter to fun, creativity-inspiring exercises, and intersperses dandy little "Try This" tips throughout the book. In this delightful, amusing, honest look in the mirror at our writer-selves, it is very comforting to see the reflection of many, if not all, writers looking back. -- NAPRA ReView, Sept/Oct 1999

Product Description
Whether it's your hobby or your job, writing is a labor of love you just can't live without. But, living the writer's life isn't easy. It takes a mountain of self-discipline, skin as thick as an elephant's, and more peace and quiet than a Buddhist monk on vacation.

Marcia Golub knows exactly how you feel. In I'd Rather Be Writing she cheerfully bares her kindred soul, sharing the joys, frustrations and challenges she's experienced since the day she dared to call herself a writer. From wrestling with distractions to conquering writer's block, Marcia's been there. She knows what it's like to battle procrastination, (like times when cleaning the oven seems more appealing than sitting down at the keyboard) or how hard it can be to take "contructive" criticism (especially from that yet-to-be-published know-it-all in your writer's group who delights in butchering your latest story).

But beyond comradeship, Marcia offers realistic advice for overcoming the day-to-day obstacles that come between you and your writing. You'll find great tips for managing your time, generating ideas and, above all, finishing what you start. She also includes simple "try this" suggestions you can borrow to work through virtually any kind of writing-related challenge.

So find more time, get more organized, complete more projects and get more done! With I'd Rather Be Writing you will be writing, and better than ever before.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books; 1st edition (July 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898799007
• ISBN-13: 978-0898799002
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,304,875 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for "serious" writers., August 22, 2000

By	Kenneth Blum (Orrville, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you're a "serious writer" - the type who sits down at the keyboard and opens up a vein, as Red Smith would say - you need I'd Rather Be Writing.

You need this book because you're probably taking yourself too seriously, as writers tend to do. Marcia Golub offers balm for your wounded soul via sound advice and a fantastic sense of humor.

The mixture makes for a book that's helpful, and often hilarious.

While the style may be breezy, there's plenty of meat. I found the sections on writer's block, meeting a rigid self-imposed deadline, and "writing through" very helpful. True, it's advice that you've probably heard or read before. But Marcia presents ideas and exercises that are fresh and genuinely useful.

For instance, here's one of her more serious passages about making progress:

"Some people tell themselves they can't write without a perfect beginning. They're looking for that opening sentence, that great scene, the bit that's going to bring the whole together. And so they can't start. But they can't get that beginning without actually beginning. No amount of kvetching and moaning and pushing is going to get it out of them. The only chance one has of finding that beginning is beginning. This sounds like a koan, some kind of irritating wisdom along the lines of the sound of one hand clapping. I don't mean to annoy you. There's no other way to say it. You start by starting. You give up perfectionism. What has perfectionism done for you lately? It's kept you frozen in the dread of that first step. Instead of giving into that feeling you say: okay this isn't how I want it to go, but it's a start. Then you tap out an inane sentence or two or two hundred . . . eventually it will start to flow . . . by the time you get to the end you will know or at least have a better idea how to begin."

I would venture to say that this is Ms. Golub's best selling book. By her own admission, her novels have not fared well. Maybe she should adapt the muse she followed in the writing of this book to her fiction. If she put this voice and wit into a novel, there's plenty of potential.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Motivational, Informational, and easy to read., November 29, 1999

By	Eldonna Bouton "http://www.whole-heart.com" (author of, "Journaling from the Heart.") - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I usually find that books about writing pretty much say the same. Not true for this book. First I fell in love with the cover, then I ended up devouring the whole book as I sat nodding with appreciation for all the advice the author gives with regard to trying to find the time to write to how not to sabotage your writing time. This one is on the top of my list for writing advice books.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I'd Rather Be Writing, January 5, 2004

By	Debra Hamel (TwitterLit.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I've read or skimmed several books about writing over the last few years and found that most of them led to a paralyzing depression, those sit-down-and-outline-the-whole-story-and-write-ten-pages-about-each-character-before-you-type-a-word-type books. I'm not saying such methods don't work--what do I know--or that successful writers don't write that way--they probably do. But for *me*, even considering adopting such a regimen deadens any urge I might have to hit the keyboard.

Marcia Golub's I'd Rather Be Writing, on the other hand, is the furthest thing from disheartening. The author offers practical advice about writing that the average mortal can imagine following--advice about note-taking and imposing deadlines on oneself and keeping numerous projects, in varying stages, going at once. The principal piece of advice one comes away from the book with, however, is a simple one, that if you want to be a writer, you have to sit down every day--or as close to every day as you can--and write *something* for some length of time. This is not earth-shattering information, of course, and indeed none of what Golub has to say is particularly profound. Nor did it have to be said at such length. The book could probably get the same information across in half the pages.

But that wouldn't have been as much fun. Golub's writing is pleasingly breezy and occasionally funny. ("I know there are marriages where husband and wife both work at home. I also know there are marriages where husbands push wives out of windows and wives sprinkle arsenic on their husbands' bowls of pasta. I'm not saying the two are related, but you have to wonder.") She lets her personality and her life circumstances spill onto the page. She writes about her own work habits, descriptions of which for some reason always fascinate me. Most importantly, Golub somehow manages to be inspirational. She makes you want to follow her advice, to sit down and write *something*, both because you really want to and because, as she might say, death is just around the corner. (Golub seems unusually aware of her own mortality.) writers looking for a kick in the pants, as the kids say, may well find inspiration here.

Reviewed by Debra Hamel, author of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece