This is probably our most loved book discussed yet! The vast majority said “Yes” to this book, though many were qualified yeses, which led to an interesting discussion about what people want from craft books. I personally found that discussion to be the most enlightening, as I’ll get to below.
But first, the breakdown:
Did you find On Writing Useful?
| Answer | # of responses |
| Yes | 10 |
| Maybe | 1 |
| No | 0 |
| Total | 11 |
| Star Rating 1 | 4.5/5 |
The Discussion
Although nobody said it in these words, Story is a State of Mind seemed to be a mirror for many people. Sarah discussed many writer foibles and fears by sharing stories of her own experiences – and it had all of us nodding our heads in recognition of our own idiosyncrasies. Many of her insights resonated with us including “What are you making problems out of your creative process?” in reference to fretting over choices we make, and underlining that nothing is written in stone; the draft we put down today can easily be changed or “fixed” tomorrow (if you want to look at it in a “fixing” way…)
Her book is more about the writer than the writing. Everyone appreciated that, but it did lead us into a side discussion, outlined below, about two distinctly different types of craft books. Topics that she wrote about and we identified as useful included giving space for your creativity and making writing an intentional practice, how to get out of our heads and just write, and self-care and self-love through the process.
Readers especially liked her low-key, non-didactic approach. Rather than shouting statements from the rooftops, “This is the last book on craft you’ll ever need!” as some of our previous books did, Sarah quietly provided her own thoughts as a take-what-you-need-and-leave-what-you-don’t proposition. Maybe it was the Canadian in her – and the Canadian in us.
Speaking of which, many appreciated that we discussed a book by a well known Canadian author, and several in the group were familiar with her novels and other work. As a group, we have kept on the lookout for Canadian authors, and this book fit the bill perfectly.
Pros
- Short chapters
- Gives writers affirmations
- Easy writing style that’s inviting and conversational
- Not preachy with a relaxed (soothing?) voice
- A book you can go back to again and again for short snippets
Cons
- Not a nuts-and-bolts book (more on that below)
- Maybe could have benefited from an index so you could go back and review a section for the problem you’re facing (fear, doubt, etc.)*
- Felt more like a loose collection of essays, which is fine, but maybe would have been strengthened with a touchstone theme to draw all the essays together.*
*Quibbles instead of cons, really.
Some Keen Insights
“(When you’re struggling with your writing), this book makes you pause to think, ‘This is normal.’ I liked that validation.”
“We all get in our heads.”
“We don’t need to worry about being right with every single keystroke.”
“Before you start writing, you get nervous. But when you write, you get lost in it. I’m glad she addressed (getting over that hump).”
“When she talks about writing by hand, I liked that validation because I do that, too.”
Who’s It For?
All writers could benefit from Sarah’s insights, though many people thought it was most useful for beginner and intermediate writers struggling with common writing ailments like bouts of self-doubt, grips of fear, second-guessing creative choices, and the creative process in general.
Side Discussions
Practical vs. supportive or “nuts and bolts” vs. “woo woo”. We identified as a group that there are two distinct types of craft books: ones that focus on the writing (practical, nuts and bolts) and ones that focus on the writer (supportive, woo woo). Personally, I found this endlessly fascinating as I’d never thought of it that way before. I get something from both types of books. However, some in the group had a distinct preference to nuts-and-bolts books. But this wasn’t an either/or kind of preference. More of a slight preference – supported by the fact that there were so many yeses!
We also created a new “Woo Woo” scale to measure how supportive and, for lack of a better word, extreme the woo is. This, of course, is highly subjective. For example, I would rate The Artist’s Way as a 5 out of 5 on the Woo Woo scale. Story is a State of Mind is a 3 out of 5 (with a nod to the fact that the title is not misleading in this respect), while something like Stephen King’s On Writing would be a 2.5 out of 5 for his memoirish passages (but again, it’s right there in the title…)
Scrivener vs. other writing tools like Obsidian. We spoke briefly about some writing tools like Scrivener and other tools that had some of the same organizational features such as Obsidian.
How to use a bullet journal. Many people shared their experiences with using a bullet journal while others talked about their confusion on how to use it. The people who found it useful said that it was more about idea generation and visually expressing ideas rather than writing in a linear fashion as you would with lined journals.
Index to flip to for specific help. I hesitated to add this to the Cons section above because really it’s more of a quibble. There was no obvious reason why Sarah should have indexed her chapters by writer issue. But wouldn’t it have been interesting – and helpful – if she did? Some in the group expressed an interest in possibly doing it for their own copies (including myself).
Final Verdict…
Story is a State of Mind by Sarah Selecky is well worth the read. It addresses the writer rather than the writing, so it may not appeal to writers looking for hands-on writing advice. Her loose style, non-preachy tone, and short chapters make it an easy and highly useful read for any writer getting bogged down in the mental gymnastics needed to get words on the page.
Next Up…
Next we review Steering the Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is definitely a nuts-and-bolts book to “address the most fundamental components of narrative writing, from the sound of language to sentence construction to point of view”. You can buy or order your copy here!
New members are always welcome. If you’re not on our list already, contact us to sign up, and then buy your copy at Entershine Bookshop. (If it’s sold out, you can order it here. Bring your own copy if you already have it.)
Find out more about the Writing Craft Book Club here.
Footnote
1. Star Rating is calculated by taking the weighted average of scores out of five and rounding down to the nearest half-star. “Yes” = 5 stars, “Maybe/I don’t know” = 3 stars, “No” = 1 star. As such, it is a general overall impression. The Star Rating is not – and is not meant to be – a comprehensive score or precise reflection of the Writing Craft Book Club’s take on the work.
