Rating: 
Summary: Write, write, write
Review: Julia Cameron's message is simple: if you want to be a writer then WRITE. She presents the message with grace, conviction and persuasiveness. The format of the book, and much of its message, is similar to the work of Natalie Goldberg. However, they have different voices and inspire a different invitation to play with words. Goldberg has a crunchy granola, zesty hippy, zen enthusiasm. Very '80s. Cameron has a new age, california scrip writing, 12-step voice and proposes adopting a rigorous work ethic. Very 90's. She provides calm and soothing encouragement. Her suggestions are quite useful, and will get you writing. However, I personally need to read the essays in small doses. Cameron is quite self-congratulatory and her tone is so self-assured that it becomes irritating. She has good reason to feel confident: according to the back cover blurb, she's written 17 books; is a playwright, songwriter and poet as well as a novelist; and has extensive credits in theatre, film and television. Wow. I'd be cocky too.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple and Utterly Honest
Review: Many authors or poets who write about writing tend to glorify themselves and their craft, claiming that writing is tortuous but necessary, that only those who cannot live without writing should write at all. Julia Cameron cuts through all this rigamarole beautifully. She systematically tears down the walls that we build between ourselves and writing, until writing really is as simple as sitting down and putting pen to paper. If you feel that the exercises put pressure on you, it's probably because you've gotten used to taking refuge in your excuses for not writing, and when the excuses are taken away, there's nothing left but to write. I have read this book more times than I know how to count, as whenever I feel slogged down in writing, I pick up The Right to Write. Julia Cameron is like a close friend, sharing what she knows, and although at times the word play gets a little heavy, to criticize things like this is to overlook the wonderful possibilities the book presents. (The poems she includes as part of her essays are a plus, as well: simple and utterly honest.)
Rating:
Summary: Some invitations are more like a summons
Review: Some invitations are more like a summons: the family dinner,the company Christmas party, your cousin's baby shower. If writing is your passion, Julia Cameron's "The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation to the Writing Life" is just such an invitation. The former Miami Vice writer's generosity, unflinching honesty, and encouragement make "The Right to Write" an event not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: The writer's muse through essays and spiritual guidance
Review: The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life
What if everything we have been taught about learning to write was wrong? To what extent do you attribute to articulating words to paper? If you are a writer, what does writing mean to you? These are questions that have been asked one way or another to any aspiring or established writer. One author in particular has given readers her own version of why the writing life is so essential to her existence. The Right To Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into The Writing Life is a revelation. It was written by Julia Cameron who has written all over the literary landscape. Here, she intones with eloquence why it is a way of life, and shares with readers her rhyme and reason to enjoy writing as a natural process. As much as I read, I found this book to be just the anecdote for me to realize why I write! The more than 40 brief personal essays that make up The Right to Write are an unyielding affirmation of the writing life and should hold the readers attention long enough for it not to be a bore. Let's take the time to examine the book. It flows judicially in a sequential phalange of personal essays and exercises to garner ways to keep the interest level up, and give credence to idealize thoughts for future reference. She invites readers to make use of the many trials and tribulations as well as the sensual pleasures of their lives in formulating fodder for a good write. Acknowledging that she is "a perfect example of a practitioning nurse," Cameron, telling the stories behind some of her own stories and poems, shows how writing can lead us down into the most vibrant parts of ourselves, to extract the source of good vibes. Cameron's prose and anecdotes sparkle with fresh, lived experience, demonstrating that when the subject is creativity, a writer should be able to make the words dance with synchronized rhythm. Cameron declares that "it is human nature to write" and sets about proving it in this demonstrative book. I can't imagine anything close to conventional writing being a false doctrine that would stifle creativity, but in The Right to Write, the author alludes to this and other tidbits of information in the same mold. Much of this I found to be quasi-believable due to her penchant for giving good analogy to illustrate well her points of view, and her belief that readers should learn to make writing a natural, intensely personal part of life. Anyone ascribing to write for the first time should not be intimidated by the authors' bodacious style, and those already living it will discover the art of writing is never the same after reading this book. The Right to Write gives all the real meaning to wanting to do what is write!
Rating:
Summary: The writer's muse through essays and spiritual guidance
Review: The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life
What if everything we have been taught about learning to write was wrong? To what extent do you attribute to articulating words to paper? If you are a writer, what does writing mean to you? These are questions that have been asked one way or another to any aspiring or established writer. One author in particular has given readers her own version of why the writing life is so essential to her existence. The Right To Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into The Writing Life is a revelation. It was written by Julia Cameron who has written all over the literary landscape. Here, she intones with eloquence why it is a way of life, and shares with readers her rhyme and reason to enjoy writing as a natural process. As much as I read, I found this book to be just the anecdote for me to realize why I write! The more than 40 brief personal essays that make up The Right to Write are an unyielding affirmation of the writing life and should hold the readers attention long enough for it not to be a bore. Let's take the time to examine the book. It flows judicially in a sequential phalange of personal essays and exercises to garner ways to keep the interest level up, and give credence to idealize thoughts for future reference. She invites readers to make use of the many trials and tribulations as well as the sensual pleasures of their lives in formulating fodder for a good write. Acknowledging that she is "a perfect example of a practitioning nurse," Cameron, telling the stories behind some of her own stories and poems, shows how writing can lead us down into the most vibrant parts of ourselves, to extract the source of good vibes. Cameron's prose and anecdotes sparkle with fresh, lived experience, demonstrating that when the subject is creativity, a writer should be able to make the words dance with synchronized rhythm. Cameron declares that "it is human nature to write" and sets about proving it in this demonstrative book. I can't imagine anything close to conventional writing being a false doctrine that would stifle creativity, but in The Right to Write, the author alludes to this and other tidbits of information in the same mold. Much of this I found to be quasi-believable due to her penchant for giving good analogy to illustrate well her points of view, and her belief that readers should learn to make writing a natural, intensely personal part of life. Anyone ascribing to write for the first time should not be intimidated by the authors' bodacious style, and those already living it will discover the art of writing is never the same after reading this book. The Right to Write gives all the real meaning to wanting to do what is write!
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