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Brenda Ueland
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If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit Paperback – January 1, 1997

by Brenda Ueland (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 759 ratings
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Discusses writing and the creative process by encouraging freedom and truthfulness in written expression in order to avoid automatic, uninteresting compositions
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  1. Print length
    179 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Graywolf Pr
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1997
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1555972608
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1555972608
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This book so speaks to the contemporary writer that it is nearly impossible to believe that it was originally published in 1938. In If You Want to Write, Brenda Ueland sets forth not just a philosophy about how to write or how to create, but also about how to live. Beginning writers will certainly be encouraged by Ueland's words, but even the most experienced have much to glean from Ueland's simple wisdom. "Everybody," writes Ueland in the opening chapter, "is talented, original, and has something important to say." Finding that something important involves embracing creative idleness ("the imagination needs moodling--long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering"), freeing "what we really think, from what we think we ought to think," and "thumb[ing] your nose at all know-it-alls, jeerers, critics, doubters." One must think, she says, "of telling a story, not of writing it." And when revising one's writing, she advises, "do not try to think of better words, more gripping words.... It is not yet deeply enough imagined." Finally, "whenever you find yourself writing a single word or phrase or page dutifully and with boredom, then leave it out.... If what you write bores you, it will bore other people." And just because If You Want to Write is passionate, sincere, and even spiritual, do not think it is not also witty. One footnote bluntly declaims, "No doubt my terms would horrify a psychologist but I do not care at all." Elsewhere Ueland titles a chapter "Why Women Who Do Too Much Housework Should Neglect It for Their Writing." Amen, sister!

Review

"I only have to read a few sentences and I am infected with the desire to follow her." -- Women's Review of Books

"I was with [Ueland] right up to the end and wanted to shout, 'Amen.'" -- Andrei Codrescu, NPR

"If you buy this book and it doesn t help you, I will give you your money back." -- Guy Kawasaki, MacUser

"It's a perfect book for both beginning and advanced writing students. It's wonderfully inspirational and can be coupled with just about any teaching technique."—Erin Cressida Wilson, Duke University

"The finest book written on the art and spirit of writing."—Shann Ferch, Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA)

"I have consistently used If You Want to Write for eight years now in English 241, and the students have loved it every semester."—Mel Livatino, Truman College (Chicago, IL)

"If You Want to Write does a superb job of reassuring student writers whose schooling has often robbed them of any confidence in their own voices. Nothing else I know does a better job of explaining to first-year college students the necessity of passion in the writer."—Shelby Grantham, Dartmouth College

"I was with [Ueland] right up to the end and wanted to shout, 'Amen.'"—Andrei Codrescu, poet, author, and National Public Radio commentator

"I only have to read a few sentences and I am infected with the desire to follow her."—Women's Review of Books
-- Review

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Graywolf Pr; 10th edition (January 1, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 179 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1555972608
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1555972608
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 759 ratings

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Brenda Ueland

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
759 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book inspirational, particularly noting it as the best for unlocking creative spirit. Moreover, the writing quality receives positive feedback, with customers appreciating the valuable insights about writing. However, the book's era receives mixed reactions, with some customers describing it as timeless while others find it outdated.

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66 customers mention "Writing quality"55 positive11 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, finding it valuable and inspiringly written, with one customer noting it provides perfect antidotes to common writer struggles.

"...than Carl Sandburg provided his endorsement to "The best book ever written about how to write."..." Read more

"...These topics include writer's block, professional envy, creative confidence, creative identity, and my personal favorite and a topic on which..." Read more

"...She simple welcomes you to write. It's lovely. It's about more than writing. It's about being true to yourself and respecting your creative self...." Read more

"...is quite the opposite, and demonstrated effectively to me that writing freely and without concern for structure is equally powerful...." Read more

65 customers mention "Inspiration"65 positive0 negative

Customers find the book inspirational, describing it as the best resource for unlocking creative spirit, and one customer notes it provides a boisterous expose' of our spiritual and creative natures.

"...She is able to bring out the unique creative nature in everyone (for if everyone is different, then everyone IS original!)..." Read more

"...This book is a gem and is bound to inspire all to open up, explore their Spirit, and put it to good use...." Read more

"...when she claims to have proved that all the readers are original and talented and just need to let it out; "that is to say, you have the creative..." Read more

"...In 150 pages Brenda will convince you that exploring your own creativity will be the single greatest journey you can take, and show you exactly how..." Read more

6 customers mention "Era"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's era, with some finding it timeless while others feel it is outdated, with one customer noting it was written in 1938.

"...better than a poorly put together version of her excellent, timeless book." Read more

"...It's an older book and it felt outdated to me. Would recommend Cameron's or King's before this one." Read more

"Excellent. Written in 1938. It is more valid today than then. She is a real, solid person speaking truth, like writers today just can't quite get." Read more

"Recommended reading by may art instructor. The book is out dated but the information is good." Read more

Inspiring Not Just for Writers
5 out of 5 stars
Inspiring Not Just for Writers
This reads like you're sitting in Mrs. Ueland's classroom, enjoying her teach from her heart through years of experience. The principles taught in this book can be followed with any type of creativity. I have underlines on every page.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Trekkintheplains
    5.0 out of 5 stars THE most well written and interesting book about writing!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2004
    Verified Purchase
    This book is just fantastic! I was looking for a book to give me inspiration on my writing and this is it! I wasn't so sure at first, I was afraid of yet another fusty, musty textbook-twin that would give helpful hints but bore me to tears. But from the first page I was hooked! "...most people must break through a shell of timidity and strain." What encouragement! This book proved to me that there are other downtrodden creative people out there, people who have had "contructive criticism" shoved down their throats until it nearly killed them. Plus, the strain of being pressured to "make a living" from your writing. Instead, Brenda Ueland encourages in the most enlivening way to write because you love to! And in her mind this applies to anyone, this is not just a book about writing. It is inspiration for ANYONE who is afraid to follow their true creative spirit.
    She says that Van Gogh painted not because it was expected of him or because he wanted to make a profit from it, rather he painted the stars in the sky because he loved them and wanted to show other people how beautiful they are, he wanted them to be seen from his perspective so that others might share in his wonder! How can that fail to inspire all downtrodden sensitive creators?
    In this book, Ueland shows how to bypass all negative feedback from others, how to search inside ourselves to find our true motives for creating literature, artwork, whatever we love the most! She is able to bring out the unique creative nature in everyone (for if everyone is different, then everyone IS original!) and in the process make us happy with what we find inside.
    35 people found this helpful
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  • Thomas M. Loarie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Carl Sandburg, Guy Kawasaki, and Now, Me
    Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Guy Kawasaki lists "If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence and Spirit" as one of his top reads of all time. Being a writer (Catholic Business Journal, blogs, and Amazon book reviews), an oil painter, and curious, I picked up a copy to see why all the fuss about a book that was originally published in 1938. I have since learned that none other than Carl Sandburg provided his endorsement to "The best book ever written about how to write."

    Author Brenda Ueland was born in Minneapolis (my former home) in 1891, and lived on Lake Calhoun (the lake featured in the Mary Tyler Moore show's opening clip). She was knighted by the King of Norway and set an international swimming record (for over-80-year-olds). She died in 1985 at the age of 93.

    This book, according to many preceding me, has inspired thousands to find the creative genius buried deep within, and to express it without any regard to "criticism, self-doubt, duty, nervous fear, anxiety, about making a living, and fear of not excelling." Ueland affirms that we are all filled with possibility, have a creative power which be kept alive in all of us for all of our lives. It is our Spirit and we keep it alive by using it.

    This book is a gem and is bound to inspire all to open up, explore their Spirit, and put it to good use. I would expand Sandburg's quote to - maybe the best book ever written on using our inner genius and creativity, whether it is writing, composing, or the visual arts. I enjoyed "If You Want to Write" and found an even greater freedom of artistic expression. I, too, get bottled up with concern about criticism, and self-doubt.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • D.
    4.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Book for Writers
    Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    There are a couple different kinds of writing books, by which I mean, the different kinds set out to accomplish different things. Some books seek to address the mechanics of writing, some the process, some generating ideas, and many others. Brenda Ueland's If You Want To Write falls into what I consider the "spirituality of writing" category.

    This type of book deals with the complex goo that resides between a writer's ears and all that occupies it, but that may not end up directly on the page. These topics include writer's block, professional envy, creative confidence, creative identity, and my personal favorite and a topic on which endless material has been written -- inspiration.

    Ueland's addresses the most basic of these spiritual issues, and yet the one that seems to plague every writer from time to time -- the ultimate question, am I a writer, can I write? Well, if you read Ueland's book, you may see how the answers to those questions are always yes.

    Ueland is pragmatic about how anyone who devotes themselves honestly to writing can be talented, such as when she assures the reader "with all earnestness, that no writing is a waste of time, --no creative work where the feelings, the imagination, the intelligence must work" (pg 15). She is also optimistic such as when she claims to have proved that all the readers are original and talented and just need to let it out; "that is to say, you have the creative impulse" (pg 10). She has really proved no such thing, but what a wonderful idea to launch from into the second chapter of the text.

    If you're struggling with your confidence or just starting out, I definitely recommend this book; it will inspire you and make you feel excited to write, much in the same ways that Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within do. Don't feel surprised if you feel the age on this one though; spiritual back in the 1930's often meant Biblical, so you'll probably notice a lot of Christian references.

    All my best to you, fellow writers!
    23 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Jose
    1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible edition
    Reviewed in Spain on October 21, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Really a horrible edition, paragraphes are mixed in a funny way. Terrible to read
    Report
  • DieMaschine
    5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration für jedermann
    Reviewed in Germany on April 27, 2023
    Verified Purchase
    Der Titel ist fast zu eng gefasst, denn egal ob man mehr schreiben, malen, zeichnen, dichten, designen oder ganz egal wie kreativ betätigen möchte, ist dieses Buch Quelle der Inspiration.

    Die angenehme Schreibart von Brenda Ueland und die angenehme Unaufgeregtheit des Buchs schafft es, einen zu erden und gibt so viel Inspiration, dass man am liebsten alles stehen und liegen lassen und sich an seinen Platz des kreativen Schaffens setzen will.

    Wann immer ich mich etwas ausgelaugt und kreativlos fühle, schlage ich das Buch auf und es sprudelt in meinem Kopf wieder!
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  • Rajiv Chopra
    5.0 out of 5 stars Masterly
    Reviewed in India on October 13, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    “If You Want To Write” by Brenda Ueland is a masterpiece. It is one of those books a reader should read slowly.

    This book can liberate you from many issues that block your progress. The title of the book is masterful. It invites you to wonder what comes next. The title invites you to enter a world in which she invites your imagination and creativity to run wild in boundless joy.

    My recommendation is for a reader to restrict himself, or herself, to only one chapter a day. I also recommend that you keep a pencil with you, so you don’t forget to underline those phrases and sentences that resonate with you.

    Then, after a year, read the book again and measure how far along the road you have travelled.
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  • Menxia
    4.0 out of 5 stars Un ouvrage libérateur
    Reviewed in France on December 27, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Publié pour la première fois en 1938, ce livre n'a pas pris une ride. Il tend à faciliter les premiers pas vers l'écriture en en montrant les écueils mais surtout en dédramatisant le travail. Il montre comment et pourquoi surmonter (bon nombre de) ces obstacles. C'est un merveilleux encougarement à franchir le pas quels que soient l'âge, le milieu, l'ambition. C'est un petit bijou!
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  • Mrs Armtrough
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 17, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    A voice from an earlier time which resonates with relevance for contemporary artists. Written to encourage aspiring writers, this small book packs a big punch, insisting that creativity is essential, a natural part of us all and that expressing it is what we must do, no matter what our fears or doubts are. The author gives many examples from her work with hopeful writers to demonstrate her insistence on authenticity, writing from the heart. These is both instructive and delightful, giving the reader glimpses of an earlier time, small windows onto seemingly quiet lives full of drama and insight. If you are just setting out on the creative path, I would highly recommend you take this small gem with you - it will inspire and challenge you in equal measure.
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