Unstuck
A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer's Block
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ISBN10: 0312339801
ISBN13: 9780312339807
Trade Paperback
272 Pages
$22.99
CA$24.99
No one is immune to writer's block. From well-known novelists to students, associates in business and law firms, and even those who struggle to sit down to write personal correspondence or journal entries—everyone who writes has experienced either brief moments or longer periods when the words simply won't come.
In Unstuck, poet, author, and writing coach Jane Anne Staw uncovers the reasons we get blocked—from practical to emotional, and many in between—and offers powerful ways to get writing again. Based on her experiences working with writers as well as her own struggles with writer's block, Staw provides comfort and encouragement, along with effective strategies for working through this common yet vexing problem.
Topics include: understanding what's behind the block; handling anxiety and fear; carving out time and space to write; clearing out old beliefs and doubts; techniques to relax and begin; managing your expectations as well as those of family and friends; experimenting with genre, voice, and subject matter; defusing the emotional traps that sabotage process and success, and ending the struggle and regaining confidence by finding your true voice—and using it.
Writers of all levels will find solace, support, and help in this book, leading them to an even deeper connection with their work and more productivity on the page.
Reviews
Praise for Unstuck
"[Unstuck] forces you to scrutinize yourself. You feel a little vulnerable, but ready to take the next step."—San Francisco Weekly
"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
"Staw helped me find my voice, providing texture and context to my ideas. Once 'unstuck' myself, I wrote my second book in two months . . . Unstuck will help writers learn to take risks and enjoy the writing process, as well as the results."—Guy T. Saperstein, author of Civil Warrior: Memoirs of a Civil Rights Attorney
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"It may sound hyperbolic to say that working with Staw changed my life. But it's true. How did she help a sixty-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.
"[Unstuck] forces you to scrutinize yourself. You feel a little vulnerable, but ready to take the next step."—San Francisco Weekly
"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
"Staw helped me find my voice, providing texture and context to my ideas. Once 'unstuck' myself, I wrote my second book in two months . . . Unstuck will help writers learn to take risks and enjoy the writing process, as well as the results."—Guy T. Saperstein, author of Civil Warrior: Memoirs of a Civil Rights Attorney
0
"It may sound hyperbolic to say that working with Staw changed my life. But it's true. How did she help a sixty-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.
Reviews from Goodreads
BOOK EXCERPTS
Read an Excerpt
Unstuck
1
The Right to Write
Every semester, at the first meeting of my creative nonfiction workshop, I ask the students what they hope to gain from the course. There are always a few who say that they are there...
About the author
Jane Anne Staw, Ph.D.
