In exchange for my honest review I was given a copy of Finishing School by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton by Tarcher Perigee. The opinions I express are my own and are in no influenced.

Writing. It conjures up many thoughts in my mind when I think about. One thought is my sister who wears writer as a badge. Yet she has not published or written anything for a long, long time. My sister talks about it, reads about, organizes her many story maps, desk, office, and her craft projects, but she doesn’t write. She doesn’t sit down and get the words down. While reading Finishing School by Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton I saw my sister and I saw myself in the descriptions. Because my sisters over analyzing of organizing things and having the perfect first draft is her down fall. I often find myself dismissing my desire to write, even though I have been blogging about my journey with my illness for this blog and even researching and writing for Chasing Wells for my friends business.

That being said, here are some things that I am taking away with me from Finishing School:

• The Six Emotional Pitfalls was a big section for me. I walked away realizing that I have some fears that I must work through in order to finish some of my writing projects, heck, any projects. I also tend to have doubts that every now and again creep into my mind when it comes to my blog and my writing abilities. I’ve been journaling about them. I’m glad to have them exposed so that I can walk through them.
• Having a writing schedule. I have never thought about scheduling time to write. I’ve always been the type of writer that writes on a whim. I have not schedules any writing time or research time. So, this morning I sat down with my calendar and looked through March and set aside some writing time and time to research. I love the fact that Tennis and Morton suggest working one month at a time. They have broken it down so the writer is not overwhelmed.
• One particular section hit a nerve with me. It was when Tennis wrote about the Four Phases of Creativity. Hmm, something I have never heard or done. These phases include, preparation, incubation, Illumination, and Verification. He breaks it down in this section and it makes sense.

The overall details of Finishing School is encouraging and shows that writing is something doable, achievable, and that you can finish. I like that. This is going to be a reference book I will go back to, especially when I am discourage.

Links I Would Like To Share:

Amazon

Finishing School Book

Cary Tennis

Danelle Morton