Synopses & Reviews
But we must try to find our True Conscience, our True Self, the very Center, for this is the only first-rate choice-making center. Here lies all originality, talent, honor, truthfulness, courage and cheerfulness. Here lies the ability to choose the good and the grand, the true and the beautiful.In her ninety-three remarkable years, Brenda Ueland published six million words. She said she had two rules she followed absolutely: to tell the truth, and not to do anything she didn't want to do. Her integrity shines throughout If You Want to Write, her bestselling classic on the process of writing that has already inspired
thousands to find their own creative center. Carl Sandburg called this book "the best book ever written about how to write." Yet Ueland reminds us that "whenever I say 'writing' in this book, I also mean anything that you love and want to do or make."
Review
"I was with [Ueland] right up to the end and wanted to shout, 'Amen.'" --Andrei Codrescu, NPR
"I only have to read a few sentences and I am infected with the desire to follow her." --The Women's Review of Books
Synopsis
In her 93 remarkable years, veteran freelance writer, memoirist, and writing teacher Brenda Ueland published some six million words. She once said there were two simple rules that she followed absolutely: to tell the truth, and not do anything she didn't want to do. Such integrity both distinguishes and defines
If You Want to Write, her bestselling classic that first appeared in the late 1930s and has inspired thousands to find their own creative center. As Carl Sandburg once remarked, Ueland's primer is "the best book ever written on how to write."
About the Author
Brenda Ueland was born in Minneapolis in 1891. She published three books, including
Me (an autobiography) and
Strength to Your Sword Arm: Selected Writings, as well as several articles and short stories. A widely acclaimed teacher of writing for many years, Ueland was knighted by the King of Norway and set an international swimming record (for over-80-year-olds). She died in 1985.