"Eureka!" Finally a book on what REALLY is "writing"

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	• Writing Alone and With Others Pat Schneider Oxford University Press, USA, 2003 - 416 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"Eureka!" Finally a book on what REALLY is "writing"

It was only two or three pages into the introduction of this book before I realized that Pat Schneider had given me the one book on writing I had looked for my entire life.

The great barrier between each of us and our own unique genius is fear. Writing -- at least deep, personal writing -- results from a direct confrontation with that fear. Some writers abandon their genius for fear of the pain of introspection. Others develop the courage to face themselves and move forward. Genius can flourish within an incubator of safety, self-confidence, focus, and practice. A nurturing environment allows some the freedom to take greater risks and plumb greater depths of personal understanding than those trapped within the cycle of their own fears.

By perfectly articulating the unspoken dread that many writers face when they seat themselves before the empty page, Schneider puts a face on the unseen enemy -- the writer him- or herself -- and allows one to move forward and deal with issues that otherwise may remain unidentified. Schneider demonstrates how to confront these scenarios not only to the solitary writer, but within the group workshop experience as well. As someone who has participated in workshops AND faced the terror of "alone," I can attest that her book can touch in a single sitting what sometimes years of therapy fails to unmask.

As theraputic as the book may be for one's writing, it may or may not be a therapy for the writer. As Schneider says in her book, "Whether or not writing heals the writer is irrelevant. What matters is the power of the work itself." This book is about writing and resolution, not about self-healing, though often the two go hand-in-hand.

This book should become a staple for all high school or university creative writing classes or for any writing class -- fiction or no -- that aims to put the writer in touch with his inner voice. In the beginning each of us brings so much unnecessary baggage to the pen or to the keyboard. And there is so much to regret for the needless time we lose in learning to know ourselves. Let's get on with it.

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Destined to Be a Writing Classic

I teach several writing teleclasses and teleseminars and workshops and I am always on the look out for writing books which will both serve me as a writer and as a facilitator AND will serve my students.

"Writing Alone and With Others" by Pat Schneider does that and more.

Schneider's tone is a perfect blend of the business of writing and the sacredness of writing and the individuality of each writer.

She writes of genius within each writer - and she goes further to say "Genius needs a lifetime of dedicated practice." In this book one would certainly find a companion to nurture that dedicated practice with such a wide variety of writing exercises that anyone and everyone would find gold.

My favorite chapters include: Chapter 3: Toward a Disciplined Writing Life and Chapter 7: Growing as a Writer. I had really looked forward to hearing Schneider's take in Chapter 9: The Ethical Questions: Spirituality, Privacy and Politics. I wasn't sure why or how Spirituality fit into that equation, and I still don't after reading the chapter.

In re-reading it, I see how Schneider speaks of "ethical questions in writing will of necessity touch our most primal spiritual orientation" so seeing that, perhaps the chapter would have been better titled differently. Even so, it doesn't detract from the content of the book, it is simply a moment of saying "Hmmm. That is interesting. I wonder what is up with that?"

I can not recommend this book highly enough for all writers at all stages of creative growth. It is expansive and expanding, intriguing and evocative. It is bound to become a classic - if the writers of the future are especially blessed..

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Now I know I can.

If you have toyed with the idea of someday becoming a writer, this book will encourage you to pursue it. Many of us doubt that we can write; Pat Schneider convinces you that you already are a writer. Whether for pleasure or for publication anyone can write. This does not, however, diminish those with extensive formal educations in writing. She means to say that anyone with the ability to take pen in hand can relay information from their heads to the paper. She does not promise a career in publishing or that others with enjoy your writing; she merely strengthens your confidence in your ability to articulate your thoughts in a physical form.
This book is the text for a my college-level writing class. The encouragement in the first chapters has everyone in the class excited about writing and anxious to get started on our projects. Some of my classmates and I have even spoke of planning a trip to Pat Schneider's home town to attend one of her workshops.
I would recommend it, however, for anyone with an interest in expressing themselves in written form. Whether you want to document your family oral history or someday publish a novel, you will find something here to help you along the way.

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An Essential Writing Guide

If you are a writer, a prospective writing group leader, or are interested in joining a writing group, do yourself the kindness of buying and reading this book by the founder of the AWA method. I have read many books on writing over the last couple of years, including all of Natalie Goldberg's and If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, and have found Schneider to be an unparalelled treasure trove of wisdom, gentleness, and practical advice. She speaks from many years worth of experience with writing, leading writing groups, and helping underpriveleged people find their voices in writing. She is inspirational and is the most trustworthy teacher of writing I've come across so far. She is also a excellent writer and poet herself.
In the first section of this wonderful book she gives advice to the writer writing alone, including lucid chapters on dealing with fear and maintaining discipline, and practical advice about exactly how to start and keep on writing-- what to do when you put your pen to the page-- that other books rarely give. In the second section she deals with writing groups, and the ethics of maintaining safety within those groups. Even if you are a solitary writer, this section is enlightening and moving, and if you are a writing group leader, or hope to be one, or are thinking of joining a writing group, this section is invaluable. She also discusses at length writing groups focused on empowering the underpriveleged; I found this information eye-opening and incredibly moving. In the final section she offers scores of writing practice exercises developed through countless writing group sessions. These are exercises relevant to all levels of experience in writing, which can be used for the solitary writer or in a writing group.
This book is a must-have for any dedicated writer, and Pat Schneider joins Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg, Brenda Ueland, Anne Lamott, Susan G. Wooldridge, Annie Dillard, and Virginia Woolf as an essential and luminous writing guide.

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Thank you Pat!

I'm 50+, with education in creative writing. I've written privately and with others most of my life. Pat is the teacher for whom I've been waiting. Her voice and style are empowering. Her ability to cast light on creativity and how we teeter between fiction and non, is among the clearest I've read - balancing craft with magic. Her practical advice is just what I was looking for in leading writing groups - she is honest and approachable.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

For more than a quarter of a century, Pat Schneider has helped writers find and liberate their true voices. She has taught all kinds--the award winning, the struggling, and those who have been silenced by poverty and hardship. Her innovative methods have worked in classrooms from elementary to graduate level, in jail cells and public housing projects, in convents and seminaries, in youth at-risk programs, and with groups of the terminally ill.
Now, in Writing Alone and with Others, Schneider's acclaimed methods are available in a single, well-organized, and highly readable volume. The first part of the book guides the reader through the perils of the solitary writing life: fear, writer's block, and the bad habits of the internal critic. In the second section, Schneider describes the Amherst Writers and Artists workshop method, widely used across the U.S. and abroad. Chapters on fiction and poetry address matters of technique and point to further resources, while more than a hundred writing exercises offer specific ways to jumpstart the blocked and stretch the rut-stuck. Schneider's innovative teaching method will refresh the experienced writer and encourage the beginner. Her book is the essential owner's manual for the writer's voice.

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