I
iHanna
Guest
- Thread Author
- #1
I have read the book “Heart. Soul. Pen. Find Your Voice on the Page and In Your Life”, by Robin Finn. I found it to be a wonderful read, something I did not know I needed before I started, but feel so happy to have found.
If you are anything like me, and every 3-5 month declare on your blog, to your friends or in your diary: “I want to start writing more, I miss writing”, then this book might be perfect for you too. If you’re interested in writing personal essays – this book is for you. If you journal but would like to share some of your writing – this book is for you. If you have a feeling that writing is important to you, or that writing should be part of your life, but you still struggle with it – then this book is absolutely for you.
The book “Heart. Soul. Pen” is divided into the three parts that the author deems necessary for a writing life: your heart, your soul, and a pen.
Heart. Soul. Pen. Find Your Voice on the Page by Robin Finn.
The heart-part is all about you and your personality. We are asked to examine our personal beliefs and how we treat ourselves, not just as “writers”, but as humans. Because yes, all creative activities needs to start with our well-being, trying to stay healthy and thinking about how we take care of our minds as well as our bodies. Robin Finn writes: “Before we write a single word, we are going to get to the heart of the matter and clean up our belief system and make sure our beliefs support our desire to express ourselves.”
The soul section of the book is when we (finally) can start to write. Preferably in a non-judgmental, mindful way. This is where Finn explains her writing philosophy and encourages us to be curious.
Then instead of finishing her book there, the author pushes her readers further, into a third section, Pen, all about what happens after you’ve written something. What will your next step be? Edit, publish, revise, find a first reader to get feedback from, or maybe share it somewhere online.
But, she writes, always remember: “We don’t allow other people to determine the value of our creativity or what we have to say. We own our value.” I underlined that and copied it down so I will really remember it and internalise it. Finn also puts emphasis on the fact that you never have to publish to be a writer, that the act of writing will change your life even if its never shared. It has value what ever you do with it, and again, you are the only person who can decide what is valuable to you.
How to find the answers you need – journaling in my diary, 2008.
In this book Robin Finn then also shares her own writing journey, with examples or action and inaction, writing and procrastinating. How she got married and forgot about her artistic inclinations for many years, as is very common for women. Our own wants and needs sidesteps “naturally” to give room for family. I love that she shares how sad this can feel, and how the longing persists, because that’s what I often feel:
She explores those feelings and limiting beliefs with the reader and suggests (writing) exercises to move beyond them.
The back-blurb promise us “spiritual insight” and because I am not very fond of the “soul”-part of the title, I was a bit worried it would be too woo-woo for me, but that was not the case at all.
In fact, I did a lot of underlining and note-taking while reading this book. A lot! I have shared a few of the many quotes I saved for myself here, but I encourage you to pick up this book and read it with a highlighter pen in hand and your writing notebook ready next to you.
Each chapter has its own takeaways, and I appreciate all of them and how doable and easy they conclude and summarize each chapter.
The writing prompts are about quickly getting started, not thinking ahead or planning too much, about using a synopsis, they’re about jumping in. Finn calls it “a intuitive process” and I love that because that is how I write best and really how my brain works. I think while I write, so trying to brainstorm and plan what to write beforehand seldom works for me. We’re all different and it’s important to know what works for you, because a lot of writing-advice will contradict the way your own brain works. If that is the case, move on until you find someone who thinks or work like you already do (or want to do). These writers are the ones you can take advice from I think. Robin Penn’s advice jams with me.
You could use the prompts she provides as the first sentence of your writing session and just go. As an example, one writing prompt is: “I remember “ — such a sweet prompt with a thousand potential roads ahead. Doing it as a quick exercise, set your timer for 10 minutes and just write what ever comes into your mind. The examples of other’s writing included in the book comes from people taking the “Heart, soul, pen workshop” in person and they are beautiful and quite helpful.
Penn also has suggestions on how to write your own writing prompts when reading, browsing or overhearing a conversation and something sparks your interest. I do this all the time, and I have lists upon lists of those little sparks everywhere. I have not thought about it like this though: How collecting those sparks can be seen as writing your own prompts, constantly filling the well. As someone who is always journaling Penn has suggestions for you too; look for words, sentences and “trigger lines” that you can build on or even use as writing prompts.
She also talks about cultivating curiosity and discovery as you write, and this simple idea is, I think, what’s always kept me going. I don’t call myself a lifelong learner for nothing, right?
In any case, this is a book that really, in a deeper way than usual, makes me want to write more. But it also asks hard questions about who we are as writers, what we believe about ourselves and our creativity, and how the thoughts in our head can spur us on or hinder our success. Finn writes: “What we believe about ourselves is critical to what we can achieve.”
- Heart Soul Pen – Find Your Voice on the Page by Robin Finn – affiliate link to amazon.
- Podcast interview with Robin Finn – Robin Finn gives plenty of writing tips in this interview.
Note: This book was provided to me free of charge for reviewing, a fact that does not influence my opinions in any way. The words and opinions of this book-review are entirely my own, as always. Your trust is important to me, and any recommendations I make are from my heart. Book links to Amazon are always affiliate links and your clicks or purchases will help fuel my need of more books.
Book rec
The last book I reviewed :
All book reviews
Shop rec
You might want to own:
Studio iHanna Shop
Join in
Subscribe to the Studio iHanna Newsletter here:
Get the rainbow colored inspirational quotes download
The post is written by Hanna Andersson and Heart Soul Pen – Find Your Voice on the Page and In Your Life first appeared on iHannas Blog.