Anybody Can Write: A Playful Approach : Ideas for the Aspiring Writer, the Beginner, and the Blocked Writer

by Roberta Jean Bryant

A writing teacher with fans across the country shares her joyful approach.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Textbooks, Reference

195 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely the best book on writing I've read so far. This is a book I plan on re-reading when I need to.

[Patricia Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Picked it up at a used bookstore, and expected to whiz through it in a few days and not learn much. I ended up with mind blown. Eight months later, I’m very grateful for the encouragement and advice of the book. The author has such a playful tone to it all, yet does not sugarcoat anything.

I highly recommend it for beginners but writers at any stage may benefit from (or need a refresher course) the author’s playful approach. Humor helps writers!

One of my favorite quotes: “David Frost remarked, ‘what a writer means by constructive criticism is a few thousand words of closely reason adulation.’”

As I’m in the throes of producing a manuscript now, I wrote with one eye on this book, encouraging me to lighten up. I gleaned so much. And as it happens, I’m finishing the manuscript as I finish this book with the author’s consideration of transcendent writing. I have a new life goal. Another quote from this section: James, Dickey, novelist and poet, said that what he wanted in a poem was “a fever. A fever, and a tranquility.“

Would love to have this author as my personal tutor, but the book will have to do for now. I imagine she would be a fun, effective teacher. You won’t go wrong going through this text.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars It's really hard to rate a book on writing when I am a beginning writer. I did a few of the wordplays and plan on finishing them. Some are more useful than others. Overall, her message is good from the very first rule of writing- "to write" is a verb and "thinking is not writing." I've definitely been doing more thinking about writing than actually writing. The author does seem to have an ax to grind regarding her former English teachers. It's too bad she felt hindered by them. I had a total different experience and I will always revere my high school Humanities teacher.
Her left and right brain analyses were quite good and showed that writers need both sides of the brain to write effectively.

[August Schau · Rating 5 out of 5]

An encouraging and playful look at the steps to get you started on the path of being a writer. Lots of exercises and new insights into the roadblocks and hazards along the path.

[Theresa F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I like it? Yes.
Would I reread it? I think I might need to, to get the most out of it.
Would I recommend it? Maybe.

[melydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bryant believes that above all, writing should be fun. That if a writer isn't enjoying his/her own story, neither will the reader. She accepts the reality of many drafts and much rewriting, but sees that part of the process as rewarding as the initial creative spurts. All in all it's an engaging read that didn't really inspire me. Included are several "Wordplay" exercises, none of which interested me very much. Of course, every writer is different, so perhaps this book would be just the trick for someone with another style.