Greg Cantwell

OWP July 2001

Book Report #2

Writing as a Road to Self-Discovery by Barry Lane

Barry Lane's book is a how-to for releasing the writer within. Each chapter explains a different technique for unlocking childhood memories and exploring how each person views him or herself and life.. Following each technique are the sections Digging Deeper and Triggers. Here is a specific example, which will show how he uses these sections.

At one point in the book, Lane explores his life in a section called "Remembering Secrets." The main idea here is that we can learn about our core stories by freewriting about secrets we have kept in our lives. The Digging Deeper section uses questions for deeper exploration of the main idea, such as, "What did you feel as you wrote about your secret?" Lane then goes on to tell a story from his childhood where he kept a secret from his parents for twenty-six years.

The Triggers section then asks the reader to explore his or her stories in greater depth. One example of a trigger presented is, "Describe secret memories or return to those you've already written about. List details and make them come alive. Then think about why you've kept them secret and write about that."(p.64) Lane reveals that his secret surfaced during freewriting and was about going swimming while his parents were asleep and nearly drowning. When he finally told them about it, it felt rather trivial. Keeping the secret was far more of a burden for him than the seriousness of the secret itself.

The basic idea of the book is to provide many different ways to learn about oneself. Since people are very different from one another, there are a wide variety of techniques presented. Some of these techniques include conversations with self, freewriting, and writing letters to oneself.

Since so many different techniques are presented and the layout of each presentation is basically the same, the book becomes somewhat repetitive and tedious. The key is to pick out the exercises that are most effective for the individual. If drawing is helpful to unlock memories and understanding, techniques are presented to help make that happen. If free or firewriting are most helpful, those techniques are explained.

In the end, it is clear that there are a variety of ways to get at a personal story, and this book by Lane presents many ways to unlock the stories within.