This Is It

What It Is by Lynda Barry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the most beautiful and fun creative writing book I've ever read (and I've read quite a few of them.) It's a mixture of graphic novel, art collage and creative exercises to get your imagination flowing and your pencil moving. Lynda's way of getting to a story is through the exploration of the image and the reclaiming of playfulness (remember when you told stories and drew pictures just for fun?) Her exercises are simple but effective, and her point is that writing lies in the exploration of the world around us and our memories. When we master the ability to visualise what has come before (favourite dogs, school friends, etc) we build confidence in exploring what is completely made up.

The first 2/3 of the book tells the story of Barry's journey from a little girl who liked to draw to a woman who publishes books. The final section are the exercises. My favourite is the "Image Bag". You collect images from magazines and put them in envelopes that go into a bag. Whenever you want an image, pick an envelope from the bag and imagine yourself either as the viewer of the scene in the image or one of the people in it.

View all my reviews

Brighton Rock

Tell all of my friends (I don't have too many
just some rain-coated lovers' - puny brothers)
Dallow, Spicer, Pinkie, Cubitt
rush to danger
wind up nowhere
Patric Doonan-raised to wait
tired again-tried again, and
Now my heart is full
now my heart is full...

from Morrissey's "Now My Heart Is Full"