One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer's Art and Craft

I learned more from this book than from years of writing classes. The author distills the essential elements of writing, from journal-inspired pieces to nonfiction to fiction to folktales to poetry. She writes in a very clear and helpful way. But - do not buy this on Kindle. You will regret it. It's the kind of book you need to flip between pages. Biggest problem: the Kindle version has an comprehensive index, but there are NO PAGE NUMBERS! I think the technology of the device has gotten ahead of designing texts for e-books. I could have paid less than a dollar more to get the paper version, which I will now wish I had.

I have only been using this book for two days and it is already starting to help with my writing. It had showed me new ways to open up my creativity and get my imagination going. I think it's a very practical and very helpful approach on writing that you can do every day or once week. I would suggest it for anyone who enjoys writing, whether you're a beginner or have been writing for a long time.

Susan Tiberghien shares her portable carry-on of writing genres from which you can choose which one(s) you prefer to focus. Not a read-through book, but a pick-and-choose of whatever strikes your fancy at the present moment. Susan is especially generous with her bibliographies, chock full of references and resources for the curious writer.

My weekly writing group is using this book, and we are very pleased with it. We spend two weeks on each chapter, and are on Ch. 4. The timed exercises are just right for people who are still working or raising children. Those of us who are retired can spend more time on them if we want. I have been surprised once I sit down to write, how the process takes over. So far the personal essay is my favorite style. Each writer in our group is able to use something from each chapter. The writing samples are so varied. I would recommend this book to every aspiring writer.

As an aspiring writer I try to practice my craft in a variety of ways. Not being able to take formal writing classes I decided to purchase this book. It has several chapters that easily lead one through a myriad of writing styles, great exercises and easily understood written pieces that help illustrate the expectation for each exercise. The author offers several practice exercises for several types of writing. While I did not do all of them for every chapter, I did most of them and found them to be fairly helpful in making me a better writer. I checked many books in the marketplace and this one was a good fit for my needs. Very user-friendly.

After attending one of the authors workshop's I was moved to find out more about her writings. I picked up this book because it offers a full year of writing lessons to develop my writing skills. The book is practical and straight forward which is what I was looking for.

The lessons are well-crafted, and progress in a way that brings you deeper into the writing craft each time. Inspirational as well, really gets you wanting to work at writing without it feeling like work. If you've ever dreamed of being a writer but don't know where to start, this book shows you.

I have followed SusanTiberghien workshops and OI have benefitted much from her teaching. It is wonderful that she has put down her valuable lessons in a book so many more people can follow her instructions. Leonie van Daalen

Want to actually enjoy writing? This book will guide you in how to love writing again.

The chapters are packed full of great info - highly recommend if you have a love for writing and want to hone your skill

Excellent, thoughtful book full of inspiring ideas. As a writer's / journal keeper's companion, this is one of the best of its kind