Review: Zen in the art of writing by Ray Bradbury – The literary equivalent of getting high

Ray Bradbury is my favorite writer. I love his short stories, his novels, his poems, and Fahrenheit 451 is my favorite book of all time.

I wanted a book that would make me a better writer but would not be boring and tedious. So when I found out that there was a book by him, about writing, I decided that I had to have it. I had looked up some good books about writing and the moment I saw the name Bradbury I clicked on it. I scrolled through a list of quotes from the book and was fascinated, there are many great quotes from the book, and each one seemed to have life energy and being to them. So after reading only several quotes from the list I became very hyped for the book.

And I was not disappointed because Bradbury writes with enthusiasm and honesty. While starting the first two chapters I became so enwrapped with the book that I went outside and began yelling the words out like a preacher quoting the bible (I was not drunk at the time, I was just very happy and really I’m just a little child).

Zen in the Art of Writing is a book of seven essay’s by Bradbury, some of them addressing the creation of his more famous books, and others simply made to lend a hand to writers entering the business of writing. He has helpful tips but also tells interesting stories about what inspired him as well as the trials and tribulations that he had to go through in order to get to where he is today.

One particularly good suggestion of his is this: every morning, the first thing you do is turn on your computer and write down the first word that comes to mind, then write the word that is brought on by that, then write down the next word brought on by the second word and so on and so forth until you have ten or twenty from this little game of word association.

By doing this you cannot only get ideas that you didn't even know you had out, but you can also gain practice and learn more about your own mind. You're strengths and weaknesses when it comes to writing different genres and perspectives. And along the way you might just discover that you have a new idea for a story under you belt.

The book is great for if you're a Bradbury fan, and wonderful if you're an aspiring writer.

I’d rate the book Great.

(If you haven’t read any of my previous posts, then this chart shows how I rate books = Awful - Bad - Good - Great - Brilliant.)

Thanks for reading and have a nice day!