An inspiring compilation of personal stories and tips and suggestions to motivate the writer who doesn't know where to start. As a writer, I didn't use this tool as much as I had hoped, but it definitely began a lot of mental prompts to get me started on my journey.

Bizarre Book For Writers

In the subtitle of this book, the author promises “Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer's Path,” but I didn't really find that this book was about that. It's actually hard to describe what is in this book. Honestly, to me, it feels like a lot of navel-gazing done by the author with an occasional suggestion of what you can do to help your writing, your writing process, or your life. It is divided into what the author calls “seasons,” but these are strange divisions, being both aspects of the writing process like The Season of Beginnings, while others were about life like The Season of Listening to Your Body or The Season of Raising Young Children. These topics just don’t relate to each other, to me. I think the author spent too much time on her own story. It really felt like the book was about her—a personal journal at times—not about us, the reader. Her bridge from her to us was often slim or inconsequential. I don't know if I really pulled many “rituals” or “routines” from this book at all. I'm not sure what “rhythm” has to do with it at all. All in all, this book just didn't work for me. Her life is so very different from mine that I couldn't draw the parallels that I think she was hoping I would draw.

As a person who has made it a lifelong habit to identify as "creative," this book came along at just the right time and was a balm to all the insecurities I've been struggling with for the last six months or more.

Some readers will definitely find the text too woo-woo, but for me, at this time, it was perfect. And the second half focuses more an practicalities like building a community (NOT a platform), and planning and finishing a project. Gulotta approaches the topic of creativity with great compassion and open-mindedness, a sense of wonder about the world, and an interest in interdisciplinary living that I forgot used to be mine as well, and reminded me that it all could be again.

Some of my favorite quotes:

""What I'm here to tell you is that if you wish to write, you can. (Most likely, you must.)"

"Tune in to sharing what's in your heart when it feels good, because you've been thinking about something for a while now, rolling thoughts over in your mind the way you suck on a sunflower seed before spitting out the shell."

"Ignore anything or any person who uses the word hustle."

"I believe regardless of scale - whether you have only a few dozen readers or ten thousand - there's someone out there who will benefit from reading the words only you can write."

Nicole Gulotta is here to encourage you to write. She knows you may have another job, children, responsibilities, a myriad number of things that might get in your way. Wild Words will get you through those obstacles. Ms Gulotta is encouraging, writes conversationally, provides clear examples and exercises. I think this book belongs in any writer's tool box; whether they be new or experienced. This book is definitely a great gift item as well.
4.5
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

I love collections of poetry and quotes that other people have collected and talk about why they found them useful. I am always trying to do this myself but never quite make a great record of them, when reading wild words I found similar poets and authors that I have cherished through out the years and its nice to have a place to go to, to see all of them collected together in a conversation about nature and birth.

Part memoir, part meditation on the writing life, sprinkled with practical rhythms, rituals and routines to see you through the artistic process—Nicole Gulotta guides you through the seasons of a creative life. Writers struggling to reconcile a writing practice with the demands of family, work, and home will recognize themselves in the author’s experience. This book won’t show you how to write. Like a good coach, it invites you to show up more skillfully to write the stories you need to tell. Fans of Julia Cameron and Dani Shapiro will find a gem here.

A wise guide for moving confidently through the seasons of a writing life. Part memoir, as the author shares eloquently from her own experiences. Part nurturance, as she encourages writers through self-care rituals, insights into the ebb and flow of a creative practice, and strategies for continuing with pen on paper no matter the barriers. Highly recommended!

Pub Date 15 Oct 2019.

Thanks to the author, Roost Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#WildWords #NetGalley

In the attention economy, tech and entertainment have found evermore clever and devious ways of stealing our attention away from acts of deep work. Meanwhile the new financial precarity demands more and more hours working to remain afloat. Most writers need other work in addition to their writing, as the explosion of content, the bankrupting of news organizations, and declining book sales have massively devalued the remuneration of writing as work. Put these things together, and you arrive at a place where the financial rewards of writing have become slim and the time available to do it even slimmer, equalling evermore more difficult conditions for writing and writers.

To be a writer, to write regularly, requires not only overcoming the challenges of modern life in America but also the myths of writing genius popularized by a certain kind of hard-drinking, hard-living male writer, where inspiration pours onto the page vis a vis the muse, with little effort is required. Despite the myths, writing requires a certain level of mental and physical stamina which in turn requires health. And the muse rarely arrives on deadline, so something else must be done to create structure, a practice, and a modicum of health to do the work. Writers need a means to overcome the inevitable roadblocks that life places between the them and finished work.

Enter Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer’s Path by Nicole Gulotta, a book on establishing practices and overcoming roadblocks to have a writing life. Writers have seasons, Gulotta suggests, and there are ways to make it through these seasons to the page, to continue to produce work. Gulotta has always worked full time while writing, and now as a new mother has even less time for it. She shares here what has worked for her to navigate the fullness of life and writing at the same time.

Steeped in popular psychology of self-care, and bringing in routines taken from Narrative Therapy, this book is about giving yourself permission and care so that you can write; removing pressure and unrealistic expectations and making space for writing to flourish. It is filled with exercises to help overcome obstacles, and promotes her framework called the Writing Cycle of Hope, which involves making peace with life’s circumstances, making priorities to get things done, and then finding time to make progress on those priorities.

The level of Millennial self-confession and self-doubt detailed in this book may be elicit feelings of overshare for many readers, but the main messages of the book of being kind to oneself, creating space for work, and vanquishing the cultural demons that judge and tell writers they aren’t doing enough, are worthy investments of time and thought. While some of the suggestions may not resonate for everyone, there are many useful bits here for the overwhelmed writer so as to find more calm to produce more and better work.

I have read plenty of writing books over the years but never have I come across one quite like this. Wild Words is partly told as a memoir and partly a writing guide. The book guides you through exploring your own creativity. It focuses on self care, tapping into your creative past and offers new ways to approach your writing journey.

Lately, I have been finding it difficult to balance writing with my poor health. Although my situation is different to the authors, I found it was easy to relate to the struggles and adapt the advice to my own needs.

This book is perfect anyone who has lost their way with writing or any writer who needs some encouragement. This book includes a wealth of knowledge and wise words to help writers through struggles they are facing. It’s perfect for kickstarting motivation and remembering the passion you have for writing, no matter what you’re going through.

Wild Words is a very versatile book and will easily appeal to a wide audience and people from all walks of life. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Nicole is an expert at gently encouraging writers in all genres. She is honest about the doubts that inhibit most creative people, and always steers away from those doubts into self-compassion and motivation. Her "Rituals & Routines' throughout the book are practical and inventive. This is the book I needed right now to be more mindful and intentional about my writing practice. It's a quick read, but one I will revisit as my writing evolves.

I found this book delightful and refreshing. As one reviewer pointed out, it is not a book ABOUT writing, but it is definitely a book FOR those who write. It is full of inspiring quotes, stories, and lots of suggestions for following the seasons of our own writing lives. If you are a writer, published or not, this book will feel like an old friend. I found the stories and suggestions comforting, practical, and motivating.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this book because it said it would "explore the emotional aspects of living a creative life" yet I was left feeling uninspired and flat. The book is mostly memoir and self-reflections which I presume was beneficial for the author but which left me, as the reader, feeling a bystander to someone's experiences rather than a part of the creative journey. I would not recommend this book.