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Title: Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity by Susan K. Perry ISBN: 1-58297-086-6 Publisher: Writers Digest Books Pub. Date: August, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.24 (42 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The science of writing and flow....4.5 stars
Comment: First a word of warning... Writing in flow is not a book about writing by a writer. It is a book about writing by a psychologist. If you read this book thinking it's from a writers point of view you may be dissapointed. It reads a little like a thesis, the author Susan Perry can get a little academic and reading this book does require a bit of an attention span to wade through some dull spots.
BUT
Writing in Flow is a very good on the verge of great book. It follows groundbreaking work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. (Creativity : Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention) In writing in Flow Perry through interviews with 75 best-selling and award winning writers and poets to find out what is this flow thing? How does it work? how do you get there and how long are you there? The feedback from the writers is the real treat of this book. It's a real treat to hear how different writers deal with being blocked, or getting into flow or writing in general. Throught writing in flow perry gives you lessons what she calls master keys. These master keys are exercises that are supposed to help you get into the flow of writing. There are also sections in which writing specific questions are asked to the author and the author responds. I also found that to be very useful. Perry's book is extensively researched. There is a notes, section , a footnotes section there's even an appendix in which she goes into detail the who, what, when and where of her research. Another thing that I liked about Writing in Flow was that the author didn't try to find a one way to understand and get into flow. Her insights are alot like an good investagative reporter who not only finds out what she's looking for but also finds the contradictions. The answers to the who what when where and how are there but there not as simple as 1-2-3. In the end there are no hugeground breaking discoveries about writing although i found a few small ground rumbling insights. Not a perfect book but I found this book to be extrtemely useful. It really helped my look at writing from a different perspective. Recommended with little or no reservations.
Rating: 5
Summary: Inspiring Weaving of art and science
Comment: As a writer, with articles published in OMNI, Success, Writer's Digest (cover article), and numerous other publications, it was a genuine pleasure and surprise to discover Dr. Perry's book on flow and writing. Finding descriptions of how so many well known writers enter and experience flow in their writing was both useful and inspiring. It really helped me get revved up for some new writing projects. Susan Perry has taken one of the most pleasant, challenging, and sometimes difficult to achieve aspects of the art of writing and woven together a discussion of the science and art. Flow is a thoroughly researched concept, with hundreds of studies illuminating this unique yet ubiquitous process. I've been aware of the research on it since the eighties. And Flow has played a major role in my own model of Positive Psychology and Positivity, which I have lectured on at numerous national professional meetings. Reading the book, you'll understand this phenomenon and, more important, you'll get a handle on how to access or enter the flow state yourself, and use it to enhance your writing experience. Flow is not just another pop psych fad. It is an elegantly researched dimension of positive psychology. Some people write and some people criticize. I would venture to guess that critics who learned how to enter the flow state, might even become writers. As organizer of the annual conference on Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology, it was a pleasure to have the author, Susan Perry as a speaker. The decision to invite her to speak was based on this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: An intriguing mix of psychology and writing theory
Comment: "You know you've been in flow when time seems to have disappeared. When you're in flow, you become so deeply immersed in your writing, or whatever activity you're doing, that you forget yourself and your surroundings."
Susan Perry, a social psychologist and writer, decided to do her doctoral dissertation on the subject of flow. She conducted interviews, sent out questionnaires, and collected previously existing information. She wanted to know how writers experienced flow, how they got into flow, and whether their experiences could be generalized to help other writers find their way into flow. The author believes that writers can and do have at least a certain amount of control over whether or not they enter flow, and she presents five "master keys" for achieving flow, along with supporting anecdotes and details.
Even if the author had stopped with those five master keys, this book would be very useful. But she goes on to present much more information. You'll find more material on flow within the context of a writer's life. Frequently asked questions are answered in sidebars throughout the text. Specific techniques for luring the flow state are discussed (ritual and routine, clutter and lack thereof, timing, music, silence, meditation, tools, and more). The author also discusses the concept of writer's block, and, more specifically, what that means, how it affects flow, and what you can do about it.
On the one hand, the wild mix of perspectives is fantastic and extremely educational. There's also the amusement value of seeing several writers self-importantly declare that writing must be done a certain way, only to see several others contradict them. This really is a good lesson in the fact that almost no writing advice is entirely universal. On the other hand, I felt that the author allowed the quotes and interview excerpts to take too much control of the book. Because of this, I sometimes had trouble telling which chapter I was in and which topic the author was discussing. This led to some confusion, and kept some of the author's points from coming through as clearly as they should have.
If you have any interest whatsoever in "writing in flow," I strongly suggest that you read this book. While flow is not necessary in order to write well, and the author does mention authors who told her that they never enter flow, flow is certainly a more fun and pleasurable way in which to write (for most people, anyway). Also, if you're one of those people whose parents or teachers berated them for daydreaming, you might enjoy finding out that such a state can be a job skill. I know I certainly did!
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Title: Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life (Masterminds Series) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ISBN: 0465024114 Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: April, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ISBN: 0060920432 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 13 March, 1991 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Creativity : Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ISBN: 0060928204 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 18 June, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ISBN: 0670031968 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 14 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Evolving Self by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi ISBN: 0060921927 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 03 August, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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