Whether you are a writer of fiction or essays, or want to explore poetry or memoir, Tiberghien’s twelve fundamental lessons will help you discover and develop your own distinct voice. Tiberghien’s inventive exercises focus on the processes unique to each genre, while also offering skills applicable to any kind of writing, from authentic dialogue to masterful short-shorts. With vivid examples from literary masters such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Eduardo Galeano, May Sarton, Terry Tempest Williams, and Orhan Pamuk, One Year to a Writing Life is an essential guidebook of exercises, practical advice, and wisdom for anyone looking to embrace, explore, and implement creativity in everyday life.
An enticing and grounding companion for the journey If you’re mindful of how today’s extreme pull on your time leaves little room for nurturing a creative life, this book offers a very grounded and realistic way in which to cultivate one. And it shows you how to do it in a way that’s methodical, possible, and simple. As you reflect on the author’s suggestions, you’ll find yourself observing inwardly and outwardly and asking yourself more centered, elegant questions about your life’s images and symbols. Susan Tiberghien’s book allows those of us with only slivers, not swathes, of time to become full travelers on the inner safari. This is a book that offers a writing process of effective 10-minute sound bytes rather than a list of commands requiring an afternoon. What’s more, it’s just plain FUN without the feel of heavy lifting. I found myself wanting to go deeper and find the center when I tried focusing on only one image in the journal entry exercises. This is a book about mindfulness as much as it is about writing. Much praise and thanks for this book that makes writing so doable!
A great book This is a wonderful book. I have been using One Year to a Writing Life as a textbook this semester in my Creative Writing course. The book is very well conceived so my syllabus follows the twelve lessons, week by week, with extra weeks for longer in-class writing. The book provides clear guidance, great examples and it inspires! It inspires me to both teach and write and it inspires my students. Before I chose One Year to a Writing Life as a textbook for my class, I surveyed many texts that are on the market and not a single one comes close to this great book. Thank you, Ms. Tiberghien, for helping all of us who write and who teach writing. Jelena S. Bankovic, Ph.D.Professor of English, Oakton College, Illinois