In the writer's battle of gremlins versus muses, Kathryn Britton's Sit Write Share is filled with well organized, easily doable, and highly adaptable experiments to help you overcome your gremlins, get to know your muses, and write from your authentic inspired voice. Sit Write Share is a writer's reference book, a treasure trove, of everything you need to know to take your writing from wavering intentions to reader-ready manuscript. It is a valuable resource for all writers on the road to becoming published authors.
Diana Whitney, PhD Founder, Corporation for Positive Change Co-Founder, The Taos Institute Author of twenty books including Thriving Women, Thriving World and The Power of Appreciative Inquiry.
Sit Write Share offers budding (and established) writers a treasure trove of doable strategies to unlock your writing potential and get your book published. Kathryn writes with wisdom and pragmatism but also understands the deeply emotional and relational aspects of writing. I wish I had Kathryn's insights when I wrote my first book and I will definitely be using them to write my next book.
Dr. Lea Waters, PhD, registered psychologist Author of The Strength Switch
If you have a book in you but you dread writing, Sit Write Share will help you turn that around. It has experiments to get past fears, escape writers' block, and view faulty first drafts with appreciation. It can even help you learn to view editing as an act of love for your audience. This book is a resource that every writer should have close at hand. Sit Write Share has helped me, and it will help you, too.
David J. Pollay Best-selling author of The Law of the Garbage Truck(R)
Every writer knows that going from inspiration to written pages is the hardest task we face. That is why Kathryn Britton's guide to help all kinds of writers overcome doubts and distractions so that writing can occur is so brilliant. The exercises prime the pump and get the words going. I've already recommended the book to friends and clients who have a book locked inside of themselves that Kathryn can help them to birth and be proud of.
Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP, executive coach, speaker Best-selling author of Creating Your Best Life and Getting Grit
From her writing experience, experiments and her own blood, sweat, and writing tears, Kathryn is a true writing Yoda. As the original master says, "do or do not, there is no try"; Kathryn has translated this ethos to writing in this book. I can tell you firsthand that when I follow Kathryn's method and write, yes, my writing is better, but more importantly, my life works better and I am a better person in it. This book is for anyone who is interested in exploring their relationship with writing as a pathway to having more impact in the world.
Jen Grace Baron, co-CEO InspireCorps, Author of Dare to Inspire
Whether you want to become a writer for the first time or to stop polishing without publishing, Sit Write Share is for you! Using simple and elegant prose, Kathryn Britton offers writers comforting structure: more than 50 practical, creative, experiential writing experiments, and numerous inspiring stories based on her decades of experience as a writer, editor, and coach. Sit Write Share will help you defeat your writing demons, design a sustainable, personalized writing practice, and discover joy in sharing and receiving feedback about your writing.
Sherri W. Fisher, MEd, MAPP Best-selling author of The Effort Myth: How to Give Your Child the Three Gifts of Motivation
2022-07-05
A debut manual lays out practical steps to making writing part of one’s daily life.
As a former computer scientist–turned–writing coach, Britton’s path to writing wasn’t always clear; she quips that in graduate school, she “preferred cleaning toilets to writing papers.” But the writing she did as part of her job and her work toward a master’s degree in positive psychology made her realize that putting words on paper didn’t have to be a chore, and in this book, she encourages readers to similarly “enter the space of deliberate writing practice with an experimental mindset.” The book focuses on ways to encourage writing as a habit through three eponymous actions: “Sit” (quieting the mind to prepare for writing), “Write” (getting material on paper), and “Share” (involving an audience in the work). Britton breaks these into subcategories of “experiments,” such as setting one’s specific intentions for a writing project, using dictation as a creative jump-start, or examining one’s writing for cultural sensitivity. Most experiments include a “Story,” or fictionalized anecdote, to help readers visualize an exercise, and sections end with a “Moral,” or takeaway, such as “It is easier to be accountable to someone else than to yourself.” The author presents an accessible structure that readers can adapt to their lives as needed. The book reads like a scientific sibling to Julia Cameron’s more spiritual The Artist’s Way (1992), as Britton’s advice is well grounded in research on habit creation, backed by an ample resource list. Although some experiments may seem overly familiar (reading more books to inspire one’s writing; silencing the inner critic), others are refreshingly intriguing (using a “procrastination hierarchy” to get writing done). The use of subcategories and granular steps may overwhelm some readers, but Britton’s conversational tone is a strength, and when discussing the fear people often face in starting to write, she’s reassuring: “Let me invite you to write without worrying about whether you are a writer. You are a writer already. You make up new sentences out loud all day long without worrying about whether you are a speaker.”
A thoughtful, well-researched guide to creating good writing habits.
