Product Description

Fear of Writing is for writers (including closet writers!) who experience a familiar thud in the pit of the stomach when they visualize sitting down to write. The process of learning to flow is demystified, and a triage of fun is applied to heal the old writing scars.

Through short stories about fictional characters with fear of writing, you'll realize you're not alone. Through writing exercises known as Fertile Material, you'll learn the skills you need to have F-U-N with writing . . . even if you've never written a story before!

See sample below for Chapter One, testimonials, and a profile of the writing exercises. You can also see four complete Fertile Material exercises at fearofwriting.com

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #787012 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06
• Released on: 2003-06-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 234 pages

Skip Pedlar, Accountant, Taos, NM
By utilizing the Fertile Material exercises in her book, I have been able to overcome my fears and self-doubts...

About the Author
Writing workshop presenter Milli Thornton was born in Wallace, Idaho in 1960 and has suffered from fear of writing for most of her life. She migrated to Australia with her family at age twelve, where she discovered that “blue” means redhead and “billy” is a tin you brew bush tea in. She sampled a variety of home bases, including Coffs Harbour, Sydney, Darwin, Melbourne, Airlie Beach on the Barrier Reef, and the Blue Mountains.

After 25 years in her beloved Australia, Milli returned to the United States to reunite with her scattered family. She lived for five years in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband and two cats, where she ate chimichangas and sopapillas instead of prawns, snags, and pavlova. She currently lives in the Hill Country of Texas with her husband and two cats.

Visit the photo gallery at Milli’s website to follow her Aussie writing and bushwalking adventures. The gallery and journal records her two-week stint working on the sequel at Varuna Writers’ Retreat in the gorgeous Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Admission to the gallery is free: fearofwriting.com

Customer Reviews

A Nudge Needed
As I have been published in a weekly newspaper column for more than ten years, I probably fit more in the group called '...writers' rather than persons new to writing who are trying to gain traction.
Like most writers I hesitate to declare that I am one.I do however write, regularly, for publication.
Milli's book and guidance gave me a different direction to go in.I had reached a cross road and was stalled. Her book provided a stimulus and a challenge.It also provided a frame to work within.
Her list of topics and coaching were very useful, are valued still.
Had I not bought the book and read it, digested it in part, I might never have tried doing fiction.
This book provided a solid point of departure.It provided credible assistance along the route.
More than those things, it provided a place in which some of us may try different things, with firm but empathetic direction as we try.
Anyone who is serious about writing has recognizable milestones that are beside the path or trail they take or are shown.
I have a feeling this book Milli Thornton created may very well be one of those for me.
Respectfully Submitted,

F.S. Lentz

Got me writing again
Milli Thornton's Fear of Writing has inspired me to write again, helping to end a lengthy 'writer's block.' I have enjoyed responding to the prompts.

She Has Spies In My House! I Just Know It!
What I want to know is how Milli Thornton knew exactly where I was when I began reading Fear Of Writing: I was curled up in bed. She knew that, and she told me that I was not allowed to read her book in bed:

"To begin with, this is not a bedtime book. Just as you would never dream of exercising aerobically right before you go to sleep, this book should be strictly a daytime pursuit. . . . so don't read this book in bed (Thornton, 10)."

When I read this, I put the book down. But I was afraid to pick it up again. What else would Thornton know about me? Would she know that I hate everything I write as soon as I write it? Would she know that I often don't write because I know I'll end up hating my work-that I make myself fail before I even try?

I did finally conquer my fear of reading Fear Of Writing, though, and I am glad I did. Thornton's insights, anecdotes, and short stories are not only helpful, but are also fun to read. And her Fertile Material exercises stretch the imagination! I've written from the point of view of a mutt-hating Siamese cat, a cockroach-loving activist, and a jazz musician.

I love that Thornton gives her readers no pressure to write the perfect piece. She gives a prompt, and you can write whatever you want, be it a poem, a dialogue, a short story, or a stream-of-consciousness piece. You don't even have to finish the story! Just write something, anything, to get those creative juices flowing. You can choose to share your writings with others (I have found that sharing them with the Fertile Material group on Yahoo! is quite rewarding.) or keep them to yourself. You simply write for yourself-an audience of one. No fear there!

This is an absolutely wonderful book! Anyone plagued by the fear-of-writing bug should read it and use the Fertile Material exercises. You won't be sorry!