13 Comments

What a thoughtful review. I loved the idea of mapping out your writer timeline. I am going to try that. And what a great concept - enquiring which self help books actually support us being more of ourselves.

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If you do map the timeline and want to share it, I'd love to see it! Thanks for stopping by!

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Answer to your second question: The Code Breaker, by Walter Isaacson. Riveting coverage of the revolutionary gene editing work. I thought the coverage of Silicon Valley high-tech revolution (focused on Steve Jobs) was the peak of Isaacson's work, this one is even better.

Answer to first question: Honestly, I had no choice. I founded a nonprofit, sd-ai.org, which is pretty technical work. And I needed to write to a larger audience, in a nontechnical way, in order to get more grass-roots feedback about my work. Love the feel of things here on Substack. Grew up in Eastern Europe, but English has become my go-to language.

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ohh adding The Code Breaker to my list! And your nonprofit sounds totally fascinating!

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I am coming my way towards the end of it, which is sad as reading a few passages and doing an exercise or two has been a great way to start my day. It’s also been a great support as I have taken a deep dive into writing a new book after a few years of journaling, note taking, dreaming up titles and generally writing around the edges. Very grateful to Beth Kempton for writing this book with such warmth, generosity and insight 🙏

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I totally get the sad feeling, but then I also felt a lightness having moved the writing through me (if that makes sense!). I am so happy someone else is liking the book too! What has been your favorite exercise so far?

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Yes the joy of having writing activated is the best thing. For me it’s been the process of writing to prompts each day which has been very freeing and energising. Surprised myself with a piece about a woman in a red hat and loved haiku section. Authoring chapter has been really very useful for beginning book project.

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Amazing!

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Thanks for writing this, I've been wanting to start on this book and just haven't come around to it. Yes, we have to learn to believe we are enough when it comes to our art, even if we are still learning, I think we will always be learning anyway.

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If you start it and go through some of the exercises let me know what you think!

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Such a great review! I absolutely love this book too 😊

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Yay! I love to hear it!

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Apr 11
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I think we all need breaks! I used to shame myself if I didn't write everyday and it was doing me no good. I think there are some short exercises in there, which definitely made it feel less intimidating for me.

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