I first came across Jeff Goins (Website, Twitter) a while back, and have enjoyed his writing advice. In particular, I enjoyed his books THE WRITER’S MANIFESTO and YOU ARE A WRITER. So when the chance arose to get an advance copy of his latest book WRECKED, I jumped at it. I even posted my first reactions to the book here.
When I first started reading WRECKED, I expected something similar to Steven Pressfield’s book THE WAR OF ART. And to some extent, there is a similarity there. Jeff Goins does talk about not avoiding the hard choices. Instead, he advises readers to take the hard path, to get broken by the challenge, and to find yourself in a bigger, more complex world where your life has a greater meaning.
But there were some differences between THE WAR OF ART and WRECKED. These differences are intentional, and they are important. Where THE WAR OF ART focuses on conquering resistance, WRECKED is about compassion. Jeff Goins focuses on compassion as the key to finding the courage to do the hard thing.
But I suspect that this difference will be divisive among readers. You see, WRECKED is not a manual for writers. It’s aimed at a more general audience, and it’s classified as “Christian Living/Practical Life/Personal Growth.” And, to be honest, the Christian element wasn’t for me. It was probably just a case of incorrect expectations on my part, but I found myself skipping over those parts and looking for lessons that I could apply to my writing. It was hard to reconcile my expectations and the reality of the book.
However, for those readers who know what they are getting into and are looking for some tips on how to live a more open, more courageous, more Christian life, I think this would be a wonderful place to start. It would also be a wonderful book to share with your family and church.
WRECKED comes out tomorrow, Wednesday, August 1, 2012. If you wait to buy it between August 1 and August 4, Jeff Goins has put together a a package of special offers that might be of interest. Jeff Goins has made the book available on his website and various online retailers.