if you want to be a mindful writer, this book is for you. It gives great insight for novice writers. I like the meditation and writing exercises.

This was a very useful guide for writing. It made me think differently about my own writing process and there were lots of useful tips.

This is a very useful, easy to absorb, guide to adding the practice of mindfulness to your writer's toolkit. I found it very helpful in offering ways to just slow down and 'be' with my writing. It's a book you can read through to get a sense of everything on offer and then return to, dipping in for exercises as needed. I would definitely keep an eye out for anything else by this author. Many thanks!

Sophie was sent a copy of The Joy of Mindful Writing, a creative writing guide that aims to help writers, “embrace the process of writing and the rich potential of conscious creativity”. The book includes 20 mindful writing exercises over its relatively short length, including various forms of meditation, stream of consciousness writing, and engaging all our senses to explore our world and spark new ideas and ways of looking at things

The book gives advice on how to avoid common writing stumbling blocks such as not allowing yourself to believe you require certain materials in order to write (“oh I can’t write anything until I’ve bought that new, expensive pen”), and finding time to write (one anecdote recounts a woman who gave up one hour of television per night and had written a novel six months later). There are also ideas to help inspire creativity in your storytelling – using the elements and seasons to inspire change, allowing yourself to daydream, and using lists and timelines to both inspire and keep track of events.

This wasn’t the best creative writing book Sophie has read, but it was deeply positive and encouraging and will no doubt be of help to aspiring writers struggling to find what works for them.

This book will guide you along your journey to writing and mindfulness. When you start reading this book, you might think that this is a book for beginners. However, if you keep reading, you'll find plenty of interesting writing exercises that even experienced writers could benefit from.

No book on writing can teach us how to write. It can, however, coach us to write better, steer us to think more effectively. And that is why they serve a purpose.
Writing my first book has been a long-held dream, one that I find myself deferring at the close of each year. I picked up this book in the hope that a mindfulness infused approach would help me put pen to paper and finally finish that manuscript.
I was certainly in a position to benefit. Hard-pressed as I am for time, I find myself routinely giving way to doubts about whether my writing is of value and whether the world cares.
When I first started reading, I wondered what mindfulness had to do with writing, but I was convinced soon enough.
The author builds a most effective case for mindfulness, arguing how the heightened level of awareness and attention to detail that listening to all our senses brings to our lives can only enhance our writing.
The mindfulness exercise where you notice your breathing and accept the thoughts that pass through your mind calmly and without judgement helped centre me on the task at hand.
The list-making technique and senses meditation, the walking meditation, the meditation where you write down your daydreams, and respect your tools etc are all designed to induce a sense of calm, where you are able to set aside all distractions, and focus on the task at hand – filling the blank paper with your thoughts and emotions.
The Joy of Mindful Writing benefits from the sense of calmness that the author creates. She seeks to inspire us to give life to our creative voice, to use the right words to create mood and atmosphere.
The author advocates that we buy books to help our writing. Dictionaries, books on English usage, grammar, punctuation, quotable quotes, rhyming, and the meaning of names, and a thesaurus. Except for the rhyming book and the book about the meanings of names, all the others have a place of pride in my collection.
She takes us through the elements of writing, from constructing the narrative, building the structure, to doing the right research. She tells us to imagine an ideal reader who will attentively ‘listen’ to our work. She adds that the intention for the book will emerge.
She brings out the difference between journaling where you express your own inner thoughts and feelings… as closely as possible and fiction where we must try to write opinions that are not your own, and to make them convincing.
Write about what you love, she says. It makes research more appealing.
Mindfulness, according to the author, allows greater access to our knowledge, experiences and emotions, enabling us to be original and creative.
The book raised within me the hope that it was not impossible for me to gain creative awareness.
The author, who suffered from dyslexia as a child, credits her parents and Mr Lewis, her class teacher when she was 10 years old, for gently and patiently enabling her to enjoy reading and writing.
At the end of it all I found it hard to believe that the author ever suffered from dyslexia. So fluid is her writing.
Reading this book helped me nudge myself out of my laziness and start writing again. I've written more in the last month than in the six months preceding that. Mindfulness has definitely helped me.

Really, really enjoyed this. The tone was helpful without being pompous and it was a very easy and informative read!

The Joy of Mindful Writing combines the art of meditating with the art of writing. The two overlap in both theory and practice, which the author describes in detail before outlining a task or challenge.

This is a nicely written, basic introduction for someone who is interested in both topics but new to at least one.

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

The Joy of Mindful Writing by Joy Kenward was a most delightful read. Through several meditations, and writing exercises, Joy teaches baby writers, and seasoned ones alike, how to apply mindfulness to improve their writing. There are six chapters, detailing different writing aspects, such as fostering imagination, finding your voice, overcoming blocks, and playing with colour and description.

The earlier sections cover choosing the right materials, and the right writing space with a mindful attitude, really paying attention to what our intuitions, minds, and bodies are trying to tell us. If we listen, we’ll find the answers we need. Stream of consciousness writing is encouraged.

With the techniques and tricks presented in The Joy of Mindful Writing, Joy shows how we can calm ourselves and settle within. Being mindful, we can engage and interact with our characters in more dynamic ways, possibly even through meeting them in meditation and asking questions on paper, using different coloured pencils to record the responses. Doing so will give you deeper insight into your characters.

I quite enjoyed the sensory, and colour exercises! I play with paints, and woodcarving. I love playing with colour so much. Now I can make better use of that love in my writing, and not just with my physical paints.

Overall, the book is well-structured. It’s easy to read, and easy to follow the meditations. The exercises are clear and simple to follow. This is a book for any writer's bookshelf!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A great inspirational book for writers of all experience, whether they're struggling with writer's block or looking for a mini pep talk!

I read this book twice and will read it again. It's one of those books you can look back on and use as a basis for writing mindfully and what that means. Joy does a great job combining both instructive and exercises into the book which I really appreciated. If you've ever written, even something for yourself such as journalling and felt stuck this is a great book to get you going, giving you the nudge needed to move you along.
I felt like she did a great job using mindfulness for those not acquainted with it and starting in the present. Using different techniques without overdoing things was key in this book and what puts this book ahead of some of the others out there. Keeping it simple it the key.
I ordered a copy of the book as with books like these I prefer the book in my hand.
Excellent book and I highly recommend for anyone who wants to deepen their personal writing.


**arc from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review**

A brief guidebook on how meditation and mindfulness improved the author's writing. Kenward explains what mindful writing is and how one can practice it.

We live in a world of constant multi-tasking. I, personally, listen to audiobooks while I'm cooking, cleaning, driving, eating and sometimes even showering, depending on how hooked I am to the audiobook. Thanks to e-readers, I've found I can knit and crochet while reading, because all I need my hands for is to tap for a page flip. While I'm watching TV shows, I am also catching up on my Facebook games.

Sadly, when I sit down to write, this same multi-tasking mentality takes over my process, and I find myself looking up information on one topic, that leads me to a different topic and suddenly I've forgotten that I was going "to use this 90 minutes to write without any distractions whatsoever".

THE JOY OF MINDFUL WRITING was a great reminder that if I want to be a productive writer, I need to re-focus my energy and attention. It offered mindfulness exercises to help quiet my mind, as well as to guide me through more useful writing techniques. I already KNEW that handwriting was often more productive than trying to write on my laptop for a first draft, but I had justified it away over time, and just the distraction of notifications alone has cost me valuable writing time. The book reminded me of that, among other things.

This is a great book for writers of all levels. It offers guides to novice writers, and reminders to well established writers. Sometimes we need to be reminded to slow down and take our time on the things that are most important, and give them our full attention.

Another lovely book for writers and helps you tackle the all important issue of sitting down and writing without getting distracted. Mindfulness and creative awareness practices for the writer which aim to help you clear your head and get creative. A great book to help you get inspired and get those creative juices flowing. I liked this book because it combines Mindfulness and Writing both of which I'm interested in and this is what makes this book different.

When I first came across the words 'Harum-scarum' I remember feeling a recognition with it as a description of how my brain worked. Pulled in multiple directions, and the only way to go forward is to divide my time between all my varied interests (as I do now on a daily basis). Without a nine to five job, I thought this might be an interesting book to add to the ones I have been reviewing lately and might actually help me further compartmentalize the work I am doing.

This book has a very serene approach. If the actual book looks like my advance readers' copy did, then its very presence on a bookshelf might actually help. It systematically lists out things to try, slowly increasing the complexity of the exercises involved to try to write the best that we can. The writing is simple and straightforward. Even without seriously considering writing as a career, it gave me ideas on how to effectively use the time that I do spend writing any small thing ( even these reviews). It does involve a lot of reflection, and suggestions meant to turn thoughts inwards.I might even take the author's suggestions on other authors to pursue for inspiration, both in the mindful and the normal inspirational category.It is a good book for people trying to work out kinks in their writing lives.

Very interesting topic and an informative book. One you can dip in and out of as required. Mindfullness is an excellent daily routine that can be used in so many ways. Truly helps get you through sometimes. Excellent stuff.

Although I liked this book from the beginning, the more I read, the more I really got out of it. It is a gentle hug of encouragement to not only write but to enjoy the experience. Combining the practice of meditation with simple practices in writing, this book allows writers at any stage, from I want to write to I am a repeat published author, to become more connected to their work and thoughts. It teaches adding every sense to your writing, to touch readers more completely.
It has exercises to help overcome writer drought or to add depth and color to your tales.
It is a brief book but felt like a personal lesson from Joy Kenward.

This book is a snooze-fest, the writing prompts were dull.

This is a short (144 pages) but surprisingly deep treatise of conscious creativity and mindfulness as they relate to the writing process. It's not so much an instruction book as a philosophical examination of writing and how to open a conduit and tap into one's inherent ability.

The text is accompanied by sidebars with various mindfulness exercises to lead and inspire the writer's creativity. They focus on diverse goals such as breathing, awareness, dealing with a block, stream of consciousness and others.

The book is not so much a treatise on writing craft or mindfulness, but the intersection of the two. The included exercises could well be adapted to mindfulness and meditation without the intention to write, and can be used to bring more awareness and meditation to our everyday lives.

For people who are interested in incorporating more organic and philosophical working methods into their writing process, this book could be a useful tool.

Basic info:
Author: Joy Kenward
Publisher: Quarto Publishing - Leaping Hare Press
Release date:15 Oct, 2017
144 pages, ebook and hardcover formats

Four stars

Intriguing concept. Not quite what I was expecting. I think having a physical copy of this book will be more beneficial than a PDF version. For me it was a book to dip in and out of rather than read. Some interesting sparks here and there but seemed a bit repetitive at times.