Writing from the Inside Out: Transforming Your Psychological Blocks to Release the Writer Within

ISBN-13: 9780471382669 / Angielski / Miękka / 2000 / 256 str.

Palumbo

Opis

"Dennis Palumbo has great insight into a writer s psyche.... Every writer should have a shrink or this book. The book is cheaper."
--Gary Shandling, actor, comic, and writer "wise, compassionate, and funny..."
--Aram Saroyan, poet and novelist "Dennis Palumbo provides a sense of community in the isolation of writing, of knowing that we are not alone on this uncharted and privileged journey. He shows us that our shared struggles, fears, and triumphs are the very soul of the art and craft of writing."
--Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter, GhostandDeepImpact Writer's block. Procrastination. Loneliness. Doubt. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Just plain...fear. What does it mean if you struggle with these feelings on a daily basis?It means you re a writer. Written with a unique empathy and deep insight by someone who is both a fellow writer and a noted psychotherapist, Writing from the Inside Out sheds light on the inner life of the writer and shows you positive new ways of thinking about your art and yourself. Palumbo touches on subjects ranging from writer s envy to rejection, from the loneliness of solitude to the joy of craft. Most of all, he leads you to the most empowering revelation of all that you are enough. Everything you need to navigate the often tumultuous terrain of the writer s path and create your best work is right there inside you.

Spis treści

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction 1

Part One THE WRITING LIFE

Writer’s Block 15

Your “Baby” 19

Inspiration 23

The Buddy System 26

It’s Alive! 29

Your “Precious Darlings” 32

Writing Begets Writing 35

Part Two YOU ARE ENOUGH

Simple, but Not Easy 45

What Really Happened. . . . 49

 “For I Have Done Good Work” 53

On the Couch 57

“You’re No John Updike!” 61

Part Three GRIST FOR THE MILL

Envy 69

Faith and Doubt 72

Fear 75

The Judge 79

Double–Barreled Blues 82

Myths, Fairy Tales, and Woody Allen 86

The Long View 91

Part Four THE REAL WORLD

The Pitch 101

Rejection 105

That Sinking Feeling 108

Reinventing Yourself 112

Deadline Dread 115

Three Hard Truths 119

Part Five PAGE FRIGHT

Gumption Traps 127

Procrastination 130

Patience 134

Perspective 138

In Praise of Goofing Off 141

Writing about Dogs 145

Going the Distance 148

Part Six THE REAL WORLD, PART II

Agents 159

Home of the Heart 163

The Unknown 167

Lately, I Don’t Like the Things I Love 171

Ageism 175

Part Seven HANGING ON

Commitment 185

News Flash: Writing Is Hard! 189

Burnout: A Modest Proposal 193

A Writer’s Library 197

A Stillness That Characterizes Prayer 201

Part Eight DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT

Phone Call from Paradise 211

The Idea Man 216

I’ve Come a Long Way on Paper 220

Loneliness 223

Larry: A True Story 226

Conclusion 239

O autorze

DENNIS PALUMBO, MA, MFT, is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, specializing in creative issues. He cowrote the screenplay for the award–winning My Favorite Year and other films, numerous TV episodes and pilots, and the novel City Wars. Palumbo writes the highly popular "The Writer′s Life" column in Written By, the magazine of the Writer′s Guild of America, and his work helping writers has been profiled in Premiere magazine, the LA Times, and on CNN.