The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear

Ask a non-writer which sounds scarier, writing a book or climbing Mount Everest, and the answer you hear will likely be the latter. Writers know better.

In his fine 1995 book “The Courage to Write,” Ralph Keyes explores just how scary writing can be, even for and perhaps especially for the best writers. The fears are many: Can I actually do this? Will anyone publish it? Will anyone want to read it? Will they like it? Will people laugh at me? What if I make embarrassing mistakes? What if people realize I am actually writing about them? What if I expose my true self in my writing?

Keyes shares the words and stories of many writers who have addressed their fears. E.B. White worried over every word, he tells us. "I write in terror," show more Cynthia Ozick said. "I have to talk myself into bravery with every sentence, sometimes every syllable." Erica Jong wrote, "Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow that talent to the dark place where it leads."

Yet fear in a writer is not necessarily a bad thing, assuming that writers possess the kind of courage Jong speaks about. Toni Morrison put it this way: "When you stiffen" (in anxiety while writing) "you know that whatever you stiffen about is very important. The stuff is important, the fear itself is information."

Or as Robert Cormier put it, "As much as there is joy in writing, there's always the little bit of terror to keep you on your toes."

There are plenty of how-to books out there for writers, but this book by Keyes is different in that it addresses not so much the writing itself as the courage it takes to actually do that writing, day after day after day. How much easier it would be to climb a mountain. show less

A 'how to write' book with a difference, The Courage to Write does not address technique and craft. Instead, it explores author Ralph Keyes' conviction that "good writing has less to do with acquired technique than with inner conviction" (pg. 117). A lot of what Keyes writes about will ring true with aspiring (and established) writers, and he does have some good advice. Some of it is obvious, but sometimes you need the obvious things said to you. You cannot evade the stark, printed word of an expert – to get down and actually write – as easily as you can your own conscience.

The book is not as essential or as fresh as some reviewers claim. An early attempt to structure the piece in the manner of the Nineties self-help books it was show more birthed alongside is abandoned (the idea of 'courage points', points in the writing process where the writer is at greatest risk of quitting, is never expanded upon). I also felt the book was quite tautological, even if harmlessly so.

However, my biggest peeve is that I am not sure how much of the book's advice still applies nowadays. In many ways, I think we have the opposite problem, and many, many people are eager to inflict their workshopped prose on the world, usually derivative of a bestselling writer or YA hack. I've always had a sense of disquiet over Creative Writing, which often seems to be less a trade school and more a trendy form of group therapy, and Keyes' approach in this book, however earnest, only confirmed this to me. show less

I thought I'd read this in college, but if I did, I retained none of it. Maybe I just needed to wait for the right time to read it. I read this book right after I read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and the combination was just what I needed to get me to start writing again (other than reviews on Goodreads, comments on Facebook, and nightly journal entries). I found it so encouraging to read about the writing habits and motivations of other writers. When I took up my notebook to start writing last night after the baby was asleep, I was able to recognize the jitters for what they were and not let them stop me from putting pen to paper.

Guilty as Charged...

This book was Horrifyingly accurate. The fear that stalks me all the time looks over my shoulder as I write this pitifully short review, twisting my stomach into a very tiring knot.

I must get to my revision, but I think I find it far easier and a little bit more interesting, or at least less stressful, to get back to my comparison of Victor Hugo's Notre dame de Paris in the French next to Nesrin Altınova's Turkish translation (at least I feel less guilty doing that than simply pacing the floor to avoid my 3rd draft...).

In Guilt,
Shira
10 February, 12017 HE

Guilty as Charged...

This book was Horrifyingly accurate. The fear that stalks me all the time looks over my shoulder as I write this pitifully short review, twisting my stomach into a very tiring knot.

I must get to my revision, but I think I find it far easier and a little bit more interesting, or at least less stressful, to get back to my comparison of Victor Hugo's Notre dame de Paris in the French next to Nesrin Altınova's Turkish translation (at least I feel less guilty doing that than simply pacing the floor to avoid my 3rd draft...).

In Guilt,
Shira
10 February, 12017 HE

A game of two halves: I find the first section a little woolly, while the second is practical, helpful and inspiring. Interestingly, Keyes acknowledges this dualty by referencing in the second half the feedback he'd received on the first, and re-written.

The best book I've ever read on writing. It ignores the unimportant stuff and cuts to the heart of what blocks writers: fear, anxiety, and apprehension. A must read for writers looking for encouragement.