Henriette Anne Klauser

I read this book for the first time in 2008, and back then, I was absolutely blown away by it. This time, 11 years later, not so much. I found the concepts overly simplistic, and I got tired of the endless stories about people whose wishes came true simply because they wrote them down somewhere. Sure, that may well be the case, but the book leaves out so many key aspects of how to get from scribbling your desires on paper to living the life you only dared imagine.

I was looking for more writing prompts, more specific suggestions for brainstorming, visualizing, and goal-setting. And some of the chapters just didn't resonate with me at all. Not being religious, I had to skim through the one where you're supposed to ask God for what you want in writing and wait for him to answer. That one seemed way too hokey, even for me--and I typically have no problem suspending my disbelief.

Overall, I was hoping for more takeaways, more actionable suggestions, and more specific recommendations on how to get from you are to where you want to go. Something besides the advice of "write it down and the rest will follow." It's the "make it happen" part I had trouble with... the book might as well have been titled, "Write It Down, then Sit Back And Wait For the Heavens to Part." But then, that version probably wouldn't have sold as well.… (altro)

An inspiring collection of assorted testimonials regarding the power of regularly writing down life goals/prayers/aspirations, but a couple items detracted from the overall reader experience. First, this was my first exposure to Dr Klauser's work so I didn't realize her approach incorporated so many Christian faith-based suggestions. While I am OK with this, I think many of today's multicultural book buyers would appreciate having that information readily available to them on the book jacket synopsis so they could make an informed purchasing/reading decision appropriate to their own spiritual or agnostic beliefs. Second, given the author's educational background and the general public target audience, I would have appreciated better descriptions of the more scientific terms she interspersed into the text (neurolinguistic programming, reticular activating system, etc). Still worth the read, but a couple editing changes would have upped my rating.… (altro)

One of the most inspiring books on writing that I have ever read. This is not a how-to, or even a book of exercises to get started. It doesn't explain how to create plots, or dialogue, or how to submit manuscripts. Instead, it looks at why so many writers procrastinate, give up part-way through novels, and don't get around to sending anything in.

The author explains - broadly - how we have two sides to our writing: the creative, inspiring part and the critical, editing part. We need both, but at different times. We need to show the editor the door when engaged in the first draft of anything, and invite him in, politely, when read to revise.

Various techniques are suggested to get in the right frame of mind for writing - getting going early in the morning, branching diagrams (called 'creative search' elsewhere), ruminating, and more. Procrastinating tendencies are examined, with pointed questions asked, and the reader is freed from the victim mentality that blames circumstances, into the attitude that we can choose - if we wish - to write, or not. Writing rubbish is just fine, and we may be surprised that our apparent rubbish is not as bad as the internal editor feared.

I was slightly dubious about the final section on meditation which seemed almost to suggest a 'spirit guide' in the form of a famous author, but it was only a brief addendum. The rest of the book was excellent. I must read it regularly. Very highly recommended to anyone who writes - or would like to write - anything.… (altro)