I'm Still Writing by Virginia Ann Byrd

I'M STILL WRITING by Virginia Ann Byrd is definitely worth a look if you have been thinking about spending more time (even just thirty minutes a week) writing. Byrd has done a remarkable job of compiling the thoughts of 52 woman writers about the craft. She also adds two sections (Listen and Write) to each writer’s quote so as to provide her readers with a means to engage with the weekly writer and her comments. The chosen writers begin with Toni Morrison on memory and conclude with Min Jin Lee on silence and sound. In the first case, Byrd asks her readers to reflect on whether there is a part of their own experience which has been marginalized and then encourages them to write about a sensory memory. After reading Lee’s quote, Byrd asks for musings on vulnerability and power and then suggestions writing about a central message or theme the reader/writer is trying to convey. Other featured women writers include Agatha Christie, Marilynne Robinson, Ann Patchett, Louise Erdrich, Maya Angelou and MANY more – imagine a graduate seminar with each of them prompting a listen and write exercise each week for a year! The quotes can be read in any order and the writers were “selected because they represent not only various time periods, perspectives, and styles of writing, but also different ways of thinking about creativity and the process of writing.” There is so much to explore in this text and many “sparks” that this book could ignite – both for individuals thinking about their own writing and for students interested in the craft.