The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size

I'd give this another star, if I thought it worked. ( )

I have to confess I only picked up this book so I could shiver gleefully at the horrifying way Julia Cameron has continued to shill her particular brand of writing how-to. As I ended up having to admit mid-read, this book isn't nearly as hideous as I had anticipated -- and it might, for some, even be helpful.

Having become an amateur competitor in the world of weight loss, I'm familiar with many of the techniques Cameron proposes, and they come from reputable sources I like and admir...more I have to confess I only picked up this book so I could shiver gleefully at the horrifying way Julia Cameron has continued to shill her particular brand of writing how-to. As I ended up having to admit mid-read, this book isn't nearly as hideous as I had anticipated -- and it might, for some, even be helpful.

Having become an amateur competitor in the world of weight loss, I'm familiar with many of the techniques Cameron proposes, and they come from reputable sources I like and admire, like WeightWatchers and Geneen Roth. She mixes her exercises -- particularly the Morning Pages and self dates -- with the mindfulness practices seen in successful diet plans, most notably keeping track of what one eats, and learning to honor when one is hungry versus searching for something emotionally.

The technique doesn't seem very harmful although I find Cameron's tone insufferable: she constantly crows about how effective her writing program is for weight loss, although she has nothing but her own anecdotal observations to back it up. ('X came to my workshop and by the end weighed less!' is the typical evidence Cameron offers.)

In the end, it wasn't the train wreck I wanted it to be, and many might actually find it helpful in their weight loss endeavors. ( )

Just finished the book, but haven't really put it into action yet. The steps seem pretty good and nothing is really all that surprising here. I found the latter part of the book to be a bit boring and repetitive, covering 'special situations' but for the most part just reinforcing the basic concepts with more success stories.

I did copy out some of the end-of-chapter exercises, though, and have bought a journal, so now it's time to get started. We'll see... ( )

I can't quite say that I've read this book--I've only had the pleasure of skimming it. When my friend Melanie told me that the author of _The Artist's Way_ had written a diet book, curiosity overtook me, and I requested it immediately from OhioLINK.It's hard to imagine how to take this book seriously, and it clearly comes from Cameron's own fixation with weight-loss (not an abnormal fixation in this country). But really, if writing three pages each day and taking the occasional walk were enough to reduce my waistline, well . . . I ought to be in pretty good shape by now! ( )

Subtitle: Write Yourself Right-Size. There's nothing particularly new or fresh about the health living advice given in this book, but the idea of bringing writing into the mix to help figure out triggers is worthwhile. Still, very much just like The Artist's Way for weight loss. Not quite as helpful as I had hoped. ( )