Book Review: Dancing on the Head of a Pen

I received Dancing on the Head of a Pen by Robert Benson from BloggingForBooks.com in exchange for an honest review, and read it in one day! It is a fairly quick read on the craft of writing, with just enough nuggets of wisdom to change your approach to your own writing. Granted, you don't want to model your writing life to be exactly like his, because you are YOU, but I bet you will pick up at least one thing that may help you in your quest for completing that book already.

As someone who has been writing the same book off and on for years, I related to the fact that writing fast is not the same as writing well. (He calls it a writer's pause, rather than writer's block.) I tend to edit as I go, so that most parts are as close to finished as they can get without a fresh pair of eyes reading them. Even though the first draft is taking forever, the editing is about 70% done. I am just taking the scenic route to getting published. I also only write when I am inspired by the muse, but his tips on how to make writing every day work will be helpful with that issue.

I laughed out loud when I read this: "Any writer worth his ink stains can think of a small army of things to keep him from writing. If he does not have enough imagination to invent the excuses necessary to keep him from writing, he likely does not have enough imagination to write a book." I have, as recently as today, used having a book about writing to read as an excuse for why I am not writing! I am the queen of procrastination, so I definitely have the imagination to write a book. The fact that this book was so short made me feel less guilty about using it as a stall tactic. I recommend it to writers who, unlike me, don't want to spend so much time reading the guidebook that they can't enjoy the trip.

I could spew out all of the tidbits I got from this book, but then you would have no reason to read it yourself, and from it each writer will glean different things. I will leave you with one of my favorites, which was a quote from writer Eric Maisel: "You do not have to write a book today. You have to go into the room, close the door, start your engines, and move your fingers until the working takes over." And when you do that, the work will turn to magic.

Great book! Pick up a copy for yourself, or give it as a gift to the writer in your life!