Gentle Writing Advice Audiobook By Chuck Wendig cover art

Gentle Writing Advice

How to Be a Writer Without Destroying Yourself

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Gentle Writing Advice

By: Chuck Wendig
Narrated by: Adam Verner
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Finally—a book of writing advice that accounts for all of the messy, perverse, practical, and inexplicable parts of being a human who writes

The truth is that all of the "writing rules" you've learned are bullshit. Sure, they work for some people, but the likelihood that they'll work for you—unique butterfly of a person that you are—is slim.

That doesn't mean you're out of luck! There is meaningful advice to be had in the writing world, and Chuck Wendig is here to deliver it. In this hilarious guide, Wendig will help you discover more about yourself as a writer, parse through your quirks and foibles, and help you figure out the best way for you to get words on the page—without destroying yourself along the way.

With behind-the-scenes stories of Wendig's own writing struggles, sections on debunking popular advice, self-care tips, and more footnotes than are strictly necessary (or legally recommended by scientists), Gentle Writing Advice will give the unvarnished truth about the writing process and remind you of what's actually important—taking care of the writer. (That's you, by the way.)

©2023 Chuck Wendig (P)2023 Penguin Audio Words, Language & Grammar Writing & Publishing Fiction Witty Funny
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Did the trick of making me feel better about my writing and my process. And maybe myself.. jury is still out on that one.

A salve for the writer’s soul

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Good, down-to-earth advice that will leave you laughing out loud and pondering why you should not only get your butt in the chair, but how birds can improve your writing (among other things).

Grounded and funny

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Really enjoyed the content and performance of this book. Chuck never fails to deliver. Highly recommend.

Great Book on Writing Mindset

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Finally a narrator who does a fantastic job with the text. And the text is wonderful!

Finally

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What can I say. The gremlins that live in Wendig’s brain jive well with my own. I needed to hear every bit of advice in this book. And the performance was rich and fun to listen to. Well done all the way around. Can’t wait to listen to more.

Hilarious and poignant

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This book is for those of us who have been slogging away in the trenches for a while and we are tired, blocked, and sad. We have put a lot of pressure on ourselves and it has resulted in a lot of needless suffering. This enjoyable, profanity-laden book really gets to the heart of all that pressure and how to relieve it and continue on with your writing.

The narrator was fantastic - he got the tone and cadence down perfectly. A plus!

Very enjoyable for us seasoned writers

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Profanity was rampant, but some of the ideas were helpful. My wonderful grandfather used to say that using profanity showed a lack of imagination. A sad commentary for an author. This book would have been so much better with just the quirky metaphors and ideas and without the numerous F-bombs and other profanity. It would also then have been accessible for teens and a wider audience that has a more varied and refined imagination.

So many F-bombs it almost obscured the point of the book—definitely NOT “gentle”.

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When Wendig sticks to the actual writing advice, the tone can indeed be gentle and supportive. However, these moments are frequently interrupted by profanity and political rants that feel out of place in a book about writing. These distracting tangents made it difficult to focus on the guidance I was seeking and undermined the "gentle" approach promised in the title.

As for the advice itself, while not wrong, most of it falls into the "common sense" category. The insights about managing the writing life and maintaining a healthy mindset weren't particularly revelatory or actionable - much of what's covered feels like things most writers would already know or figure out on their own.

The one bright spot was Adam Verner's narration of the audiobook - he has an excellent voice and delivered the material well, which made the listening experience more bearable than it might have been otherwise.

If you're looking for truly consistent, gentle advice about the writing life without the unnecessary profanity and political commentary, or if you want more substantive insights beyond common-sense guidance, you might want to look elsewhere. This book may work for some readers, but it wasn't the right fit for what I needed.

Not as "Gentle" as Advertised

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