Writing the Natural Way : Turn the Task of Writing into the Joy of Writing

by Rico, Gabriele Lusser

• ISBN13: 9780874779615
• ISBN10: 0874779618
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-04-03
• Publisher: Tarcher

Summary

Writing the Natural Way first published fifteen years ago, has shown hundreds of thousands of readers how to turn the task of writing into the joy of writing. Completely revised, newly illustrated, and with a wealth of updated, field-tested exercises, this master course in writing will help unlock natural styles and storytelling abilities. For more than twenty-five years, Dr. Gabriele Rico has pioneered a dramatically different approach to writing, which releases creative potential by tapping a rarely accessed part of the brain. Her methods trigger dormant language capabilities through the use of writing acts such as clustering, recurrence, improvisation, creative tension, and constellating, and to help to: -release creative inhibition -end writer's block -find an authentic voice -discover patterns of meaning Filled with quotations, writings samples, "before and after" work, and techniques and activities, Writing the Natural Way frees readers to express memories, emotions, and images they never thought within their reach.

Author Biography

For twenty years, Gabriele Rico, Ph.D., has led workshops and lectured extensively on the creative process and the application of brain research to learning. A professor of English and creative arts at San Jose State University, she lives in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Forword	xv
Preface	xvii
Opening: Letting the Writer in Us Out	1	(13)
Clustering: The Doorway to Your Design Mind	14	(26)
The Receptive ``I'': The Childhood Origins of Natural Writing	40	(21)
The Self-Reflective Mind: Words and the Brain	61	(21)
Discovering Design: The Trial-Web Shift	82	(10)
The Zen of Improvising: Re-Creations	92	(14)
Recurrences: The Unifying Thread	106	(14)
Language Rhythms: The Music in Words	120	(12)
Images: Inner Eye Directing Writing Hand	132	(18)
Wedding Word to Image: Metaphor	150	(20)
Nuances: The Many Voices in the One	170	(22)
Yin Yang: Polarity and Creative Tension	192	(14)
Brevity and Re-Vision: Less Is More	206	(23)
Designing Constellations: Worlds Within Words	229	(20)
Bibliography	249	(8)
Index	257