{"id":672,"date":"2024-05-07T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/?p=672"},"modified":"2024-08-08T02:11:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-08T01:11:10","slug":"write-it-all-down-by-cathy-rentzenbrink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/07\/write-it-all-down-by-cathy-rentzenbrink\/","title":{"rendered":"Write It All Down by Cathy Rentzenbrink"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Recently, I\u2019ve been in the doubtful doldrums with my writing. Previously eloquent passages seem flat, and my light turn of phrase now turns my stomach. Happily, my wife bought me \u2018Write It All Down<\/a>\u2019 by Cathy Rentzenbrink for my birthday. It was a lovely gift, made even lovelier by being just the right book at just the right time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cathy Rentzenbrink<\/a> is a British memoirist, the author of \u2018The Last Act Of Love<\/a>\u2019, the story of her brother\u2019s accident and resulting brain injury. In \u2018Write It All Down\u2019, she offers advice and encouragement to others who want to follow in her footsteps and write their memoir. Although the advice is written with the budding memoirist in mind, it is broader than that. I’ve never thought of writing anything openly biographical, my work in progress is fiction, but I found a wealth of apposite advice, handy exercises, and new ways of looking at the writing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some ways \u2018Write It All Down\u2019 is the mirror image of prescriptive writing manuals<\/a>. Cathy doesn\u2019t like those, stating that they make her feel sad. I disagree with her there,   I like them and have found them extremely useful. But there is a time for the technicalities of \u2018Save The Cat<\/a>\u2019, and a time for the inspiration of \u2018Write It All Down\u2019. I need them both. I need it all. I need everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the everything. I\u2019ll pick out two pieces from the many good ideas and kind reframing in Cathy\u2019s book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morning Pages<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Write down 500 words on any subject, without stopping, or correcting or editing. Write and don\u2019t look back and do it every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve started to do this, and it has worked. It\u2019s loosened up my writing and when I move onto crafting blog posts or editing the work in progress<\/a> it flows in. The mental pipes have been cleaned out, and the writerly brain muscle has been warmed up. Whatever has happened – it works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t an original idea – I think it comes from the Artist’s Way<\/a>, another book I want to read. No matter. \u2018Write It Down\u2019 is where I read it first and so I remain grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You Don\u2019t Have To Share It<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Whatever I write, I don\u2019t have to share it. Nobody needs to read it, not even me. I just need to write it and that is all – a liberating concept. It\u2019s easy for me to be caught up in beta reads, author mentors, and dreams of publishing. If no-one ever reads anything I\u2019ve written then it doesn\u2019t matter. Writing is worthwhile, in and of itself. Once done, then everything else is optional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write like no-one is reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing and Kindness<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

For me, the theme of \u2018Write It All Down\u2019 is kindness. Kindness to yourself, kindness in your writing, and kindness to others in the same position. I\u2019m at the stage of my own writing, when kindness is what I need; not fifteen story beats to follow, not a reaction scene to every action scene, not character arcs or hero\u2019s journeys, but kindness. What I need is someone to reassure me that it\u2019s OK to write, it\u2019s good to write, and I\u2019m allowed to write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And would I write a memoir like Cathy Rentzenbrink? Up to a few days ago, I would have said definitely not – but now? Who knows: maybe, perhaps, possibly. After all, I don\u2019t need to share it with anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo by Unseen Studio<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, I\u2019ve been in the doubtful doldrums with my writing. Previously eloquent passages seem flat, and my light turn of phrase now turns my stomach. Happily, my wife bought me \u2018Write It All Down\u2019 by Cathy Rentzenbrink for my birthday. It was a lovely gift, made even lovelier by being just the right book at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,28,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-reviews-and-recommends","category-writing","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/writing-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":930,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672\/revisions\/930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timothypatrickbrown.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}