In 2007, Julia Cameron published a book that still divides its readers today. It is titled The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size. The thesis – which many readers, upon hearing the title, reject out of hand – is that the relationship with writing and the relationship with food share psychological roots: compulsion, avoidance, punishment, reward, shame. And treating them separately — going to therapy for writing and a nutritionist for food — often fails because the common tissue is left unworked.
book summary
- Year: 2007.
- Premise: Compulsion with food and creative block share emotional structure.
- Structure: seven weeks with combined writing and food care practices.
- Specific tools: el "body log" — a brief record, next to the morning pages, of what you eat and how your body feels when you eat it.
- Critical audience: Some critics felt that the book could reinforce obsessive dieting attitudes in readers with a history of eating disorders. Cameron has responded by clarifying that the book is not for people with an active eating disorder and that it should be done with professional supervision in that case.
- Who it works well for: readers with a strained relationship with food but no diagnosed disorder, who also have chronic creative blocks and suspect the two are connected.
The controversy
It is important to address the controversy directly. The book has been criticized in circles of Health at Every Size and recovery from eating disorders due to specific phrases that, read out of context, may sound like an endorsement of dieting. Cameron, in subsequent interviews, has clarified that the book refers to compulsive behaviors, not to specific bodies, and that the "right-size" of the subtitle is the size your body gravitates to when you are neither restricting nor bingeing — not a culturally imposed size.
This qualification does not save all the paragraphs of the book. Some are a product of 2007 and do not age well. If you have a history of eating disorders, our recommendation is don't start with this book. There is useful material but there is also material that can activate old mechanisms.
The useful part
That said — there is an interesting core to the book that many readers find useful. He body log: write down, after each meal, how you feel when you eat it. Not what you ate. How do you feel eating it. The exercise reveals, after two weeks, something that most did not know about themselves: there are very clear patterns between emotional state and eating behavior. We eat out of anxiety, out of boredom, out of reward, out of guilt, out of social ritual. It is rarely eaten out of hunger.
When that becomes conscious — in writing, every day — part of the automatism breaks. Not everything. But enough for it to appear choice where before there was autopilot. And that choice, for many readers, changes the relationship with food more than any specific nutritional plan.
"Taking care of the body is not a separate problem from taking care of the writing. It is the same problem — because you write with the body, and if the body is not cared for, neither is the writing."
Julia Cameron · The Writing Diet · 2007Who is it for?
If your relationship with food is tense but not clinical, and you suspect it is related to your creative block, the book can give you perspective and tools. If you have an active eating disorder or recent history, skip this book or read it with professional support. If your relationship with food is good and you just want to improve your writing, read The Right to Write — is a better tool for that objective.
Bilingual technical data sheet · Technical data
English edition
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher / Penguin
Year: 2007
Pages: 208
ISBN: 978-1585425716
Language: English
Spanish edition
Editorial: Spanish editions available
Year: 2007 (original); translation available in various editions.
Pages: 208 (approx.)
Spanish translation: available from multiple publishers.
Language: Castilian
Historical context and warning · Historical context and disclaimer
Cameron posted The Writing Diet in 2007. It is — we say it clearly — the most controversial of his work. Its premise is that the relationship with writing and the relationship with food share psychological structure and are best treated simultaneously. The idea has a useful core for some readers, but the book has received legitimate criticism from eating disorder specialists about specific phrases that, out of context, could reinforce obsessive dieting patterns.
Important notice · Important disclaimer
- In English: If you have a history of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, orthorexia), this book is not for you to work with unsupervised. Some phrasing can be triggering.
- In Spanish: If you have a history of an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, orthorexia), this book is not suitable for work without professional supervision. Some phrases can be triggers.
- Cameron has clarified in interviews that the book refers to compulsive behaviors, not to specific bodies. But that nuance is not always clear in the text.
The body log tool · The body log tool
The useful exercise in the book — which works independently — is the body log. After each meal, write down how your body felt when you ate it. Not what he ate. How it felt. After two weeks, patterns emerge between emotional state and eating behavior that most people did not know about themselves.
Frequently Asked Questions · Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a diet book? / Is it a diet book?
Cameron presents it as a non-diet but the title and some chapters use diet language that can be confusing. It works better read as a book on conscious attention to the body while writing than as a dietary manual.
Do you recommend it? / Do you recommend it?
With nuances. For readers without a history of eating disorders and who suspect that their relationship with food affects their writing, it has useful material (especially the body log). For readers with a history of TCA, we recommend Cameron's other books first.
Are there better alternatives? / Better alternatives?
For relationship with the body without diet language: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk. For lock-free writing: The Right to Write from Cameron herself. Combining both can be better than this book.
Why did Cameron write it? / Why did she write it?
In interviews he has said that he noticed, in his workshops, a strong correlation between eating compulsions and writing blocks. He wanted to treat them together. The execution of the book, however, did not always live up to the intention.
Bilingual glossary · Bilingual glossary of key terms
| English | Spanish | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Body log | Body search | Post-meal note on how the body feels. |
| Writing diet | Writer's diet | Title — problematic language but conceptually about body care. |
| Right-size | Correct size | Cameron qualifies: the size to which the body gravitates without restriction or binge. |
| Compulsive eating | compulsive eating | Eating for reasons other than physical hunger. |
| Emotional hunger | emotional hunger | What we often call hunger is something else. |
| Writing and eating | Writing and feeding | Thesis: they share psychological structure. |
| Embodied writing | Embodied writing | Adjacent concept — writing from the body, not just the head. |
| Self-awareness (body) | Body self-awareness | Sustained body log result. |
| Eating disorder trigger | TCA trigger | Reason why the book requires caution. |
| Mindful eating | Conscious eating | Related concept that has aged better than the book. |
How to get the book · How to get the book
- Original English edition: The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size. Disponible en Penguin Random House, Amazon, Apple Books y Barnes & Noble. También en librerías independientes y bibliotecas públicas de Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Canadá y Australia.
- Spanish edition: The Writer's Diet: Write at the Right Size. Search in general bookstores (Casa del Libro, FNAC, El Corte Inglés), on Amazon Spain/Latin America and in independent bookstores. Also available in digital format (Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books).
- Audiobook: Most of Julia Cameron's books have an audiobook version on Audible (English) and some editions on Storytel (Spanish).
- Libraries: Cameron's works are in most Spanish-speaking public libraries with a digital lending service (eBiblio in Spain, BiblioBoard in Latin America).
- Second hand: IberLibro, AbeBooks, Wallapop and eBay usually have used copies at better prices. For out-of-print books, it is sometimes the only way.
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