This book was an inspiration. There's plenty of "how to" writing books out there but this one offers crisp, no b.s. suggestions about process and self-protection within that process. Very useful . ( )

Most tasks — whether one is baking a cake, building a birdhouse or taking out the garbage — have beginnings, middles and endings. Each stage of the process is a little different from the others. This is true of any writing project as well, and Dani Shapiro approaches her advice to writers in “Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life” (2013) in this way.

Whether one is writing a book, an article, a term paper or a blog post, the problems, doubts and pressures are a bit different at each stage. How do I get started? How do I stay focused with so many distractions? How do I wrap this up when there are still so many obvious imperfections? Shapiro deals with such questions in a logical, if meandering, manner.

Like most of her books, including her novels, “Still Writing” is part memoir. Having grown up in a home with troubled, secretive parents, Shapiro remains haunted by her experiences, and those memories pop up frequently in illustration of her points. So this is not your typical self-help book.

The wisdom of an experienced writer blends in seamlessly with that writer's life story. Any aspiring writer who reads this will not only learn helpful hints but also be forced to shed illusions about what a writer's life is like. ( )

I like Dani Shapiro, really relate to her different levels, and plan to read her other books that I have not read. However, I found this one to be mediocre for me. She was repetitive in a number of essays which comprised this book which left me wanting more. I think it’s worth a read though for those interested in writers and writing. W ( )

[b:Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life|18698800|Still Writing The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life|Dani Shapiro|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382393068s/18698800.jpg|24362456]

A couple of months ago, when I read Goodread's author [a:Julie Christine Johnson|14132699|Julie Christine Johnson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1437132482p2/14132699.jpg] wonderful and inspiring review on this book, I had never heard of author [a:Dani Shapiro|13932|Dani Shapiro|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1291240450p2/13932.jpg] before. (You can read Julie's review here.)

After reading it, I asked Julie a couple of questions, the first one was:

Do you think this memoir can be enjoyed by someone like me, a person who loves literature but isn’t a writer? The second question was, do you consider writing more an art of a craft?

Julie very wisely assured me that yes, indeed she thought I would definitely appreciate Shapiro's memoir.

It took me a while to finish it, but reading Shapiro's elegant and eloquent memoir provided a fascinating glimpse into the mind and creative process of a writer.

Whether is fiction or non-fiction, reading is to me (among many other things) about our continuous search for intimacy and connection with others.

Many of us tend to think of writers as people that somehow manage to be above the fray, individuals that by virtue of having found such a profound life calling, enjoy privilege existences, far away from the pettiness and ordinariness of day to day life.

The wonderful thing about reading memoirs is that they allow us to connect with authors on a very intimate level.

[b:Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life|18698800|Still Writing The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life|Dani Shapiro|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382393068s/18698800.jpg|24362456] is one of those rare books that manages to be both profound and practical. It's at once an ode to the beauty of writing, and a warning to the potential pitfalls and perils that lay ahead for those that decide to pursue the craft.

Divided into three parts: "Beginnings," "Middles" and "Ends", this memoir engages the reader with its short chapters and its surprisingly simple and accessible language.

Shapiro strives to explain what happens from the moment a writer decides to write to the moment when actual words are put down on a piece of paper/document.

The author shares what appears to be a lifetime collection of practical advice, suggestions and guidance. These seem to be particularly valuable for aspiring writers.
"Ultimately a writer is someone that writes, Shapiro points out, it might sound deceitfully simple but somehow within the context of this memoir it makes total sense.

I love the fact that Shapiro calls for writers to not only write but to be avid readers as well.

Here's an except from the chapter called "Reading":

When I meet someone who wants to be a writer, and yet doesn't read much, I wonder how that works. What would provide you with nourishment, with inspiration?....Who would call a day spent reading a good day? asks Annie Dillard. But a life spent reading, that's a good life... Reading great work is exhilarating. It shows us what's possible..."

Daneile Joyce "Dani" Shapiro, the author, has written 5 novels and two best-selling memoirs.


In between the author's poignant observations, she shares stories about her family background, anxieties and doubts.

Born into a Orthodox Jewish family, she grew up as the only child of a middle-age, dysfunctional couple.

Shapiro believes that as youngster straining to hear her parents's conversations was the beginning of her literary education. She says her emotionally unstable mother "Was my first lesson in character and point of view." This childhood, as she wrote, Isn’t a prerequisite for a writing life, of course, but it certainly helped".

The author recounts some of her most painful memories, including a car crash that in 1986 killed her father and badly injured her mother. She also touches on her tumultuous love life as well as her son's terminal illness.

Shapiro's mission also seems to be to debunk some of the most popular misconceptions about the writing process, to let her fellow writers know that they are not alone, that the pain they experience while writing is a normal part of the writer's life.

The last chapter, appropriately called "Still Writing" closes the memoir with one of the most beautiful passages of the book:

Still writing?" I usually nod and smile, then quickly change the subject. But here is what I would like to put down my fork and say: Yes, yes, I am. I will write until the day I die, or until I am robbed of my capacity to reason. Even if my fingers were to clench and wither, even if I were to grow deaf or blind, even if I were unable to move a muscle in my body save for the blink of one eye, I would still write. Writing saved my life. Writing has been my window -- flung wide open to this magnificent, chaotic existence -- my way of interpreting everything within my grasp. Writing has extended that grasp by pushing me beyond comfort, beyond safety, past my self-perceived limits. It has softened my heart and hardened my intellect. It has been a privilege. It has whipped my ass. It has burned into me a valuable clarity. It has made me think about suffering, randomness, good will, luck, memory responsibility, and kindness, on a daily basis -- whether I feel like it or not. It has insisted that I grow up. That I evolve. It has pushed me to get better, to be better. It is my disease and my cure. It has allowed me not only to withstand the losses in my life but to alter those losses -- to chip away at my own bewilderment until I find the pattern in it. Once in a great while, I look up at the sky and think that, if my father were alive, maybe he would be proud of me. That if my mother were alive, I might have come up with the words to make her understand. That I am changing what I can. I am reaching a hand out to the dead and to the living and the not yet born. So yes. Yes. Still writing.”

I've always been in awe of those that can sit in front of a blank page and create something profound, thought-provoking, thrilling, funny, seemingly out of nothing.

Reading [b:Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life|18698800|Still Writing The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life|Dani Shapiro|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1382393068s/18698800.jpg|24362456], truly brought this sentiment to a new level. My appreciation and respect for what writers go through in order to fulfill the dream of pursuing a creative lifestyle has only grown bigger.

This memoir taught me that the writing process can be hard, scary, solitary, unappreciated and risky. But it can also be thrilling, rewarding, intoxicating and extremely fulfilling.

In the introduction to the book Shapiro writes "The writing life requires courage, patience, persistence, empathy, openness, and the ability to deal with rejection, Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks".

Pay attention, be kind to yourself, be disciplined, don't give up, be patience, appears to be advise we can all use and apply to our own lives.

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The second question I asked Julie on her review was, do you consider writing more an art of a craft? Here her answer was more nuance, and for good reason. There's probably not right or wrong answer to that question, but Shapiro's seems to be more inclined to emphasize the "craftier, practical" side of the writing process.

So Julie, you were right, not only did I loved Dani's memoir, but it's also one of those books that I would come back to once in a while and that I'd be glad to recommend to many of my friends. Thank you. ( )

Nice rhythm, picks up towards last third of book. ( )