From Where You Dream (Robert Olen Butler)

I really didn't like From Where You Dream . This book on writing seems to be taken verbatim from lectures given by the author (which makes the style a little irritating to read), and the methods it mandates, such as writing in a trance-like state, didn't grab me at all. He doesn't touch on speculative fiction as a genre, which annoys me, and he doesn't seem to require writers to research either. It's all this dreamlike subconscious thing. Bleh.

Writing Your Life (Patti Miller)

Writing Your Life is a fantastic book aimed at those who are interested in autobiographical writing. What I usually dislike about books like this are that authors often scatter books with their own examples of autobiographical writing, which I often find lacking (Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg, I'm looking at you).

What is wonderful about Patti Miller's book is that she uses excerpts of really wonderful autobiographical writing by a great variety of authors - some you will love, some you may not, but it's all there to illustrate different styles and approaches. The book is based on a series of workshops, so it's extremely practical, and packed with fantastic and thought provoking exercises. I was inspired, and plan to complete many of the exercises within. 5 out of 5.