Unstuck: A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer's Block - Softcover

Staw, Jane Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312339801 ISBN 13: 9780312339807

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2005

Synopsis

No one is immune to writer's block. From well-known novelists to students writing term papers, Ph.D. candidates, and associates in business and law firms, most anyone who writes has experienced either brief moments or longer periods when the words simply won't come.

Based on her experience as a writing coach and instructor--and before that, as a blocked writer for many years--Jane Anne Staw provides practical, effective strategies for overcoming this common yet vexing problem. Topics include: * handling anxiety and fear * carving out time and space to write * clearing out old beliefs and doubts * techniques to relax * managing expectations * experimenting with genre, voice, and subject matter * ending the struggle and regaining confidence and freedom by finding your true voice - and using it.

Unstuck uncovers the reasons why writers of all levels get blocked--from practical to emotional, and many in between--and offers concrete ways to get writing again, and to find an even deeper connection and more productivity on the page.

About this title

About the Author

Jane Anne Staw, Ph.D., has taught writing at Stanford University, The University of Iowa, and currently teaches at the UC Berkeley Extension School and The University of San Francisco MFA Program in Writing. She also works with writers individually, overcoming writing block. She is the author of Unstuck: A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer's Block. A published poet with an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Iowa, she lives in Berkeley, California.

From the Inside Flap

"In a way [Unstuck] forces you to scrutinize yourself, the book is like a hard day at the therapist's office: You feel a little vulnerable, but ready to take the next step."
- San Francisco Weekly

Writers' Praise for Unstuck

"My book would not exist without Jane Anne Staw. She creatively, lovingly, and patiently guided me past my convoluted blocks. And she can do it for you. Unstuck will transform your relationship to your writing and wisely help free you into your true writing self."
- Susan G. Wooldridge, author of Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words "Unstuck is filled with honesty, compassion, and a lyrical prose that leaves its indelible impressions on you long after you've put the book down. An overdue essential that will become every writer's companion."
- Regina Louise, author of Somebody's Someone

"I would not have written my book were it not for Jane Anne Staw. Her ability to see what I was trying to say and do, and to understand me as a writer, made it possible for me to keep writing. Unstuck offers readers the same chance to benefit from her wisdom and experience "
- Susan P. Halpern, M.S.W., author of The Etiquette of Illness: What to Say When You Can't Find the Words

"Jane Anne Staw helped me find my voice, providing texture and context to my ideas. Once 'unstuck' myself, I wrote my second book in two months, and it will be published later this year. Unstuck will help writers learn to take risks and enjoy the writing process, as well as the results."
- Guy T. Saperstein, Civil Warrior: Memoirs of a Civil Rights Attorney

"Jane Anne Staw's honest, insightful techniques demystify the sometimes paralyzing experience of being a writer, while allowing the magic and mystery of the process to flourish. Unstuck offers all of this to you."
- Rebecca Di Liberto, M.F.A.candidate, Columbia University

"It may sound hyperbolic to say that working with Jane Anne Staw changed my life. But it's true. How did she help a 60-something psychiatrist-who knew all the reasons for his writer's block already-finally deliver? Read Unstuck, which explains both the complexity of the problem and the simplicity of the cure."
- Neal Bloomenfeld, M.D.

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312339801
• ISBN 13: 9780312339807
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272