Today  I finished Brenda Ueland’s book, “If You Want to Write.”  I thoroughly enjoyed it. This book is somewhat unlike other writing books I have read.  Brenda’s theme focuses more on developing the freedom to write confidently, rather than outlining the rules of plot and character development.  This book is very encouraging to the aspiring writer/creative. She tells stories of her writing class students and how they overcame their fears and blocks on the road to becoming writers.  She uses samples of their writing to further illustrate her point.  I found it very interesting to read what other aspiring writers have written while they learned the craft.  She also demonstrates several helpful exercises to help jump-start or refine the writing process. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who wants to tap into their creativity and put words on paper. However, one must keep in mind that Brenda Ueland has a somewhat flaky, new age tone throughout the book.  One example of this is that she repeatedly grants a sort of deity to things that are not God, such as the imagination or the conscience.  Take these quasi spiritual references with a grain of salt. Otherwise, it is a fantastic book about writing.