Title of the book: Writing as a Road to Self -Discovery
Author: Barry Lane
Reviewed by Isabel Kelly

I loved the analogy that Barry Lane uses in the beginning of his book to explain the idea that ìwriting is like digging potatoes.î He says that most of what we write deals with what we see or what we already know, much like the branches and leaves of the potato plant that stick above the ground. In this book, he encourages us, with many ideas and exercises to dig for the potatoes that are buried underground. Sometimes these potatoes are buried deep and they are difficult to dig out. Other times, the soil is loose and the potatoes come up to the surface more easily.

My suggestion to anyone who reads this book is to keep a notebook and a pencil close to them. Throughout the book, the author is continually asking the reader questions that may trigger a forgotten memory, an incident, or a different way to look at something ordinary in their lives. First he asks you to jot down some ideas. Then he starts asking more and more questions challenging you to ìdig for your potatoes.î There is a ìtriggerî for everyone.

I had as much fun experimenting with my own writing as I did reading Barryís own stories that he used as examples. After posing a list of different kinds of questions for you to think about, he offers an example of how one of those questions triggered an idea for him to write about. He usually wrote a piece that could become a future story, but he just leaves it as a start. Then he invites the reader to do the same.

While reading his book, many ideas of what to write about popped into my head. As I wrote them down, more details of my childhood came to focus and I started to pay more attention at the impact that every day things or events have in my life. With the help of Barryís questions and ìtriggersî, the more I wrote the more potatoes I dug.

This is the kind of book that you need to own and not borrow. Itís the kind of book that you can pick up anytime you may feel the need to connect with your feelings and figure out how the world is affecting you.