cover image Leap Write In! Adventures in Creative Writing to Stretch and Surprise Your One-of-a-Kind Mind

Leap Write In! Adventures in Creative Writing to Stretch and Surprise Your One-of-a-Kind Mind

Karen Benke. Shambhala/Roost (Random, dist.), $14.95 paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-61180-015-9

In this companion to Rip the Page! (2010), Benke returns with exercises that encourage readers to “shake up your one-of-a-kind mind, heart, memory bank, and changing emotional landscape.” The workbook format includes blank lines every few pages (sometimes straight, sometimes wavy or zigzag), where readers can follow the many prompts and ideas Benke sends their way. In a section about observation, Benke suggests finding a quiet spot: “Keep noticing what you notice.... Then choose one thing from your awareness field.... Observe this one thing in five ways.” There’s a meditative, contemplative tone to the entire project (amplified by explorations of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi and poetic forms that include found poetry and patchwork cento poems), which should appeal to those seeking a holistic approach to their writing. Agent: Stefanie von Borstel, Full Circle Literary. (Apr.)