Writing Creativity and Soul, a Review by Susan

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Writing Creativity and Soul

Sue Monk Kidd

240 Pages

Knopf

Amazon.com/Goodreads/Bookshop.org

While I obtained an electronic copy of this book through NetGalley, I later received a copy of it in a Goodreads Giveaway.  I am trying to get back into my writing and was looking for a book to be a reference for me as a “muse.”  This fit the bill fairly well.

I have not read everything that Sue Monk Kid has every written, but one of my favorite novels of all time is her Secret Life of Bees. In this text, the reader gains some insight into Ms. Kidd’s writing process and while the last third of the book provides more nuts and bolts advice for would be writers, the rest of it was fairly inspirational and made me feel like I can get back into it so long as I have courage enough to actually write.

I also felt a kinship with Ms. Kidd because like many writers, she had other things in life that often interfered with writing, like making a living.  Many of us have something to say but lack the courage and the time.  There is something inspirational knowing that others who have actually published have had many of the same problems and roadblocks.

I would say this is a great book for those of us who are trying to write, either for the first time or in coming back to it.  The inspiration is real. As for practical advice, Ms. Kidd considers herself a more “traditional” writer in the sense that her works follow a more traditional story arc.  This book might not be the best one for those writers or would-be writers who consider themselves more avant garde.  That most likely fits my own writing and many books I like to read.

Thanks to Goodreads, Knopf and NetGalley for providing me with advance copies of this book that I can read on the subway and use at home as a reference, in exchange for honest opinions.