Listen to Me: Writing Life into Meaning

by Lynn Lauber

An inspirational guide to charting your inner landscape through personal writing. Why write out of our lives? What can it do for us? How can sharing our stories connect us with others? Acclaimed novelist and essayist Lynn Lauber chronicles her journey as a writer and longtime teacher at creative writing programs around the country. She explores how writing―both fiction and creative nonfiction―has served as a means of personal navigation, a healing and avenging force, and a way of calling up not only a lost daughter but also a lost self. Her story serves as encouragement for others to produce their own personal narratives.

Each chapter includes inventive writing exercises and prompts, practical devices for moving past writer's blocks and self-censorship, and advice from Lauber's students as well as renowned authors. Listen to Me expands on the wisdom of Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird , offering energizing tips, techniques, and anecdotes in combination with honest and personal experience-sharing.

Genres: Writing

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen to Me gets at the very heart and soul of why we write. Lauber talks about writing at its purest-writing for oneself, writing to find oneself. She likens writing to bearing witness, not only to a time and event, but to our life. Her chapters offer a variety of examples, and each ends with useable suggestions and prompts to start and guide the writing process. Her suggestion to rewrite from a different person or point of view to become "unstuck" had me digging out old writing notebooks. Lauber's advice is just as useful to the seasoned writer as to the beginner. It is refreshing to read a book on writing which only briefly discusses publication-Lauber's point is that writing is an admirable enough goal. The automatic writing prompts are much more practical than in many other books on writing. Reading Lauber's work left me feeling motivated and hopeful rather than discouraged.

[Tawny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite quotes:
1. "To insist that writing always has to become something is like barging into someone's shower while she's singing and asking: 'What are you planning to do with that song?'"
2. "If you say what's on your mind in the language that comes from your parents and your streets and friends, you'll probably say something beautiful."
3. "An old proverb says that every time an old man or woman dies, a library burns to the ground."
4. "We carry the central events of our lives within us . . . They are notched deep inside us like the rings of trees."
5. "Writing is a way of listening to ourselves, putting an ear to the wall of our interiors, discerning the rustle of our souls."
6. "Meaning is not what you start out with, but what you end up with."

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a ton of writing books, and found this on the library shelf and grabbed it with low expectations. It is the best I have read so far, and had great prompts that I was inspired to use right away.

[Mary Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book--lots of good writing exercises that are useful when leading a writing class.

[Lupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best writing book I've ever read --and I've read them all!

[Kathleen Garber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book used and I’m glad I did. This isn’t a writing how-to book but more like the ramblings of a writer who had experience with teaching other writers. The book might not look like much on the front but it was an extremely good read.

I am currently writing my first novel and it’s based on events that happened to me but with a twist which is basically what the author is trying to get people to do. Drawing from real life can make for a great story and can help you in the process by getting things off your chest.

I can attest to the automatic writing she talks about in Chapter Four. I’ve done that many times, even tracing the words with my finger onto the bed. I highly recommend that it you want to write your thoughts but are afraid they will be found and read.

Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, Lynn really encourages you to write from your heart and write what you know. This book shares with you how and why to do just that.