Wednesday, June 24, 2020
The Right to Write Review
Julia Cameronââ¬â¢s is a pretty big name in the world of writing; her Artistââ¬â¢s Way made it from its humble beginnings of being self-publication to one of the Top-100 Best Self-Help Books of All Time. The Right to Write, however, is different from its predecessor. The Artistââ¬â¢s Way was a structured, twelve-step program aimed at removing you creative blocks and letting you write freely (Cameron is one of the major proponents of freewriting, the practice of letting your thoughts flow freely onto the paper). The Right to Write is more of a collection of reflections on the nature of writing itself, and its main goal is to dispel some myths surrounding writing and writerââ¬â¢s vocation (at least Cameron believes them to be myths). According to Cameron, writing is a joyful, natural process, and that people, in general, make too big a fuss about writing. Not in the sense it isnââ¬â¢t important ââ¬â quite the contrary ââ¬â but in the sense that writers arenââ¬â¢t some special kind of people in possession of unique and rare ability. Cameron believes that every person is, for all practical purposes, a writer ââ¬â and the only reason why most people donââ¬â¢t write is because they are led to believe that it is some kind of esoteric, mysterious process only possible for the chosen few. Another strong belief of Cameronââ¬â¢s she imparts in the book is that writing is one of ways of connection with the divine, akin to prayer, which is another reason for all people, not just those professionally dealing with writing, to take up this activity. All in all, the book is a collection of essays and exercises, a bit unfocused, but interesting to read, especially if you havenââ¬â¢t read Cameronââ¬â¢s books before. However, no The Right to Write review would be complete without acknowledging one fact that may not be very pleasant for the fans of her work. She falls into the same trap most self-help authors do, especially the ones who managed to write a very popular book based around a single idea. It may even have been an original and interesting idea ââ¬â otherwise the book wouldnââ¬â¢t manage to be successful. But these writers soon run into a problem: fans expect something new while they have already said everything they had to say in their breakthrough, original book. They may have developed some additional techniques over the years, or smoothed over some rough patches, but far from enough to fill an entire new book with. Thus, if a writer is willing to stay popular, he has to write new books regularly ââ¬â but not having anything new to write, they have to write more or less the same book over and over again. The same happened to Cameron and The Right to Write. It is the same ideal all over again, the same set of beliefs, even some of the exercises she offers are the same as in her iconic work. It doesnââ¬â¢t mean it is a bad book ââ¬â but it means that if youââ¬â¢ve read The Artistââ¬â¢s Way youââ¬â¢ve probably already read most of this one as well.
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