Zen in The Art of Writing

Zen in The Art of Writing

By Nick I.

In this essay i will be reviewing the book Zen in The Art of Writing by one of the most creative, talented writers Ray Bradbury. Ray has also written some of the most famous books like The Martian Chronicles or The Illustrated Men. These are two of the best books i have ever read. In this novel, he shares his love and dedication to the art of writing, all packed into one great story. I picked this book out hoping to learn new rules and structures to help me with my writing. Not knowing it was more of a memoir of how his writing has developed over the years and what he has done to help himself in the long run.

In this book, Bradbury talks about one of his most famous ways to improve his writing. He has a noun exercise that allows you to expand your story ideas, and take thoughts from the back of your head. This teaches you to think out of the box and makes your writing much less plain. One of my favorite quotes he says in this book shows that even though he's a famous writer he still tries to improve and expand everyday … "I began to make lists of titles, to put down long lines of nouns. These lists were the provocations, finally, that caused my better stuff to surface. I was feeling my way toward something honest, hidden under the trapdoor on the top of my skull". This quote taught me, even if I am stuck, or come to a bump in the road when I am writing, to never give up.

This book was definitely one of the best ones Ray has written yet. I really liked the way he compares himself to average, high school kids like myself. He talks about how, just like we do in English class, he assesses himself and pushes himself to improve his writing. Bradbury also mentions how even as a famous writer, he is still never completely satisfied with his work and always wishes to do more. The one and only bad thing i can say about this book, is that it isn't very informational. Yes it gives great ideas, and different methods on how to improve his writing, but it didn't teach me as much as I wished. This doesn't take away from the quality of this book whatsoever, this is a great book.

If I were to make a recommendation to anyone planning on reading this book, i would say read it immediately. If you haven't read this book yet you are really missing out. It opens your mind to the way a famous writer thinks, and how they feel about their own work, rather than what you think about it. You can find this book at any of your public libraries, or bookstores. You could also order it on Amazon.com. Please go read this book, don't do it for me, do it for Ray.