Fast, beautiful and dynamic. It takes the readers breath away and invites them into a world where anything is possible.Do you want to write fast and well??
I want to win the Pulitzer Prize for literature. I want to win a Hugo for science fiction. I want to win the 2005 Stargate Fan Fiction Awards for the best piece of Stargate Atlantis fan fiction on the planet. I want to write the best Battlestar Galactica fan fiction out there that will really capture the heart and soul of my favorite characters. Can I just get three lines out without stopping and rewriting? Any of this sound familiar?
As a writer of fan fiction and lover of the craft of writing, I thought I would share with you a book that literally ignited my writer's soul and freed my Muse to allow me to create worlds and universes for characters to play in, quickly, easily and consistently. I love both reading and writing fan fiction, and have been a fan fiction writer for a number of years in the Star Trek and X-Files arena. I have also written science fiction, a bit of fantasy, a whole load of non-fiction and just about everything else, quickly, under deadline and simply for fun and self gratification.
It's time to write. The report is due (or overdue); the publisher is waiting for the next chapter; the boss needs that strategy report, the case is pending, awaitng your brilliant brief. (your fans are waiting for your next installment of your Battlestar Galactica fan fic). Why is it that you would rather do something else, tha tyou have a sudden urge to make a phone call or shuffle papers on your desk? How did you suddenly realize that you need more research or that the typing paper is not quite right (Remember this was written a while ago, so just insert some other trivial task for typing paper and keep going. It's worth it). Why is it that every word you write reads wrong, and why did you wait this long anyway?
On the Yahoo boards, I see many fan fiction writers who can just barrel out the text on their favorite characters and pairings seemingly overnight and effortlessly. I see others, however, who get stuck, and others who agonize over their writing, many times remaining lurkers on the boards unable to present anything coherent or, like my daughter, agonize over everything they finally produce.
Where writing is supposed to be fun and freeing, many people find themselves in an arduous, uphill slog with every word ripped from their fingers leaving them exhausted and wondering why they started this nightmare in the first place.
Believe it or not, I suffered from all these problems. I have been a writer since I was five, but as I grew older and became more educated, my writing slowed to a mind-bending crawl, and finally after tragedy, my writer's Muse just packed it in and disappeared into Muse purgatory. Then I found this book called, Writing On Both Sides Of Your Brain
that alleviated my writer's anxiety and made it possible for me to write at a pace that astounded even myself. It wasn't a long read; it's a very thin book.
I was astounded. I was so excited reading this book that I ran out and bought nine copies for my best friends . . .
I was astounded. I was so excited reading this book that I ran out and bought nine copies for my best friends and writing buddies, mailing copies with a yellow Post-It note attached to the front cover that read, "Read it; it will change your writing life. Try it. You'll never be the same. Some wrote fan fiction like me (Star Trek); some wrote non-fiction. All of them called me, giddy with the success this book provided. I read comments like:
- I reread and scratch out everything as I go along. It takes forever, and I hate the way it sounds when it's done.
- I was taught that the opening sentence is the most important. It has to catch your reader's attention, set the mood and style, anticipate the ending -- all that in one sentence. Sometimes I spend forty-five minutes to an hour just getting that first sentence down, and even then I often don't like it. It's discouraging.
- Why does it take so long for me to write? When I speak, I handle myself pretty well. I wish Icould write as easily as I talk!
I saw myself on page one, and I was hooked. I had to keep reading.
Reading this book was like breaking a dam.
My Muse returned in force . . .
When I found this book, I literally had been suffering from Writer's Block for eight years since my best friend and sister, Harriet, died from lupus. Reading this book was like breaking a dam. My Muse returned in force, giving me plots, characters and scenes faster than I could write them down. I was amazed. I was astounded.
I found that it works with whatever you want to write - fan fiction, science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction - it doesn't matter. I can't say it enough -- this book is phenomenal, and it will help you in ways you can't possibly imagine. Once you read it and try its techniques, your writing will skyrocket. I guarantee it. If you're a fast writer, you'll write like lightening. If you're still agonizing over every line you tap out, you'll be faster than you ever thought possible. If you think you have no talent, you'll surprise yourself with tons of material. Everyone I have recommended this book to has benefited.
The book included things on handling:
- Rumination: What does that mean and why is it so important.
- Branching: The Whole-Brianed Way to organize your material
- Procrastination: What causes it and how to get around it and on with your writing. . . painlessly.
- Assertiveness Training: Dealing with your critic
- Going to the movies: Creative Visualization and Writing
- And much, much more....
Read the reviews...
Don't just listen to me. Over the years, I've seen reviews of this book come and go and they've always been spectacular. It has been published and republished. It goes away, but like all good things every few years, it appears again, and readers who pick it up write reviews like I've listed below:Life changing. February 15, 2003
Literally and definitely life changing! I had always wanted to write but simply could get nowhere. A mind full of ideas that would flow when on the freeway, in the shower, etc., would run dry in moments after my fingers hit the keyboard. Frustrating! Then I read Writing on Both Sides of the Brain and attended Dr. Henriette Anne Klauser's half-day seminar by the same name. That did it. I'm now an award-winning novelist (Turn Back Time and two other novels--written with my daughter, Lisa Kay Hauser)and have four published children's picture books, with two more to be published this year--and get to speak in schools all across the nation. All of this in eight years. If you want to write but just can get moving--or continue moving--get this book! Put it in you shopping cart right away. Its practical insights, encouraging words, and how-to-do-it-now tips could bring you the deep satisfaction and rich rewards of being a person who can Put Your Heart on Paper.
--Philip Dale Smith, Tacoma, WA
The best book about writing I've come across, May 27, 2002
What more to say? I have had my copy for years and read it over and over again (and I am a professional writer). I buy it and give it as a present often. I'd recommend this book to any beginning writer or anyone who needs a jump start now and again (don't we all?!).
Powerful, got me published...
I'm a writer by trade, and I read this for the first time when I was still unpublished. I found it enormously encouraging, and it's still the book I go to when I'm tearing my hair out. It acknowledges how tough writing is, and it rewards you and me for the stumbling steps we take to get better at it. Plus, it gives us POWERFUL weapons to use against that critical MONSTER who lives in our brain! I recommend it all the time.
A delightful book on unlocking the creative genie in you., December 15, 1997
More than just a bag of tricks, this brief work shows the reader how to get control of his internal critic (left brain) so that the creative right brain can do its magic.
If you're looking for a fast, easy book to unlock your writing genius and let your Muse out, Writing On Both Sides Of Your Brain will do just that and more. It will give you confidence in your writing, and it will make world building fun again.
Henriette Klauser has also written another book you might want to check out called, Put Your Heart On Paper
