Book Review -- Write by Sarah Quigley

Tips for Creative Writing and Beating Writer's Block

Feb 5, 2009 Samantha Garner

Sarah Quigley offers useful tips for fiction writers who need inspiration and guidance through their craft.

Write: A 30-day Guide to Creative Writing (Penguin New Zealand), 2006), is an easily-digestible handbook for fiction writers looking for help with beating writer's block, creating a plot, character development and finding story ideas. Written by Sarah Quigley, a writer of fiction, poetry and reviews, this guide offers an in-depth look at the inner workings of creativity for writers.

Writing Every Day is Crucial

In the book's preface, Quigley remembers a book she once bought titled German in Thirty Days. Encouraged by a friend to keep practicing, Quigley made an admirable start, but quickly became overwhelmed and put the book aside. Soon enough, she realized that she hadn't opened the book in years.

Quigley compares this experience to writing. She says that "any activity only becomes easy if you go to it every single day." In doing this, writing every day will become a natural part of your routine. Write is filled with easy and enjoyable writing prompts that are designed to be completed quickly, in your spare time.

Write's Format Encourages Quick Daily Writing

Rather than presenting her book in a linear, theory-based narrative, Write is designed to be read out of order. With titles such as "What to do with a trayful of objects," "T.S. Eliot was a banker," and "Dioramas and Turkish castles," each short section begins with an anecdote, from Quigley's life or from the world around her, that she is able to weave into writing inspiration.

According to Quigley, finding writing inspiration is easy because "when you're completely immersed in writing a book, just about everything around you, including your own body, turns into material."

Sarah Quigley's Write Makes Creating Writing Prompts Easy

Write is presented in an informal, conversational format with quick and easy writing prompts ending each section. Not only does this encourage the practice of writing every day, but it sets a foundation for writers to continue after they have finished the book.

Due to the format and style of each section, Write offers a valuable education in connecting everyday experiences to their writing life. This enables writers to create their own writing prompts at their convenience, simply by recalling an event, place or anecdote.

Thanks to its easily-accessible format and conversational writing style, Sarah Quigley's Write: A 30-day Guide to Creative Writing makes writing every day an easy task, and is an inspiring addition to any writer's bookshelf.

Reference:

Quigley, Sarah. Write: A 30-day Guide to Creative Writing. Penguin New Zealand, 2006.

The copyright of the article Book Review -- Write by Sarah Quigley in Resources for Writers is owned by Samantha Garner. Permission to republish Book Review -- Write by Sarah Quigley in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The view out a window is writing prompt material