I’ve been re-reading, or should I say listening to, my favorite books on writing. When I take my pup on his daily walk I put in my new AirPods (No more fighting with my tangled ear buds as I head out the door), load my audio book and go. While I stroll the sidewalks, the red and orange leaves that scatter my path help transport the words and their inspiration into my mind. Thoughts on how to establish a more consistant writing schedule, how I might make adjustments to a character, and even thoughts on a new twist for my ending, drift around in my head. I always walk away with new tidbits to chew on.
I’ve got three books going at the same time right now (probably not a great idea, but they’re all quite different), so I just continue on with whichever I’m in the mood for that day. One that I love is On Writing by Stephen King (I’m not into horror novels, but I totally connect to King’s thoughts on writing). I’m also listening to Save The Cat by Jessica Brody, which is helpful to me because I’m not a planner, I don’t start with a tight structure in mind. I started my novel with an overarching idea, wrote a lot of scenes and then brought them together. Her book is helping me, by getting me to look closer at the structure. And the third audio book that I have going is This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley. It’s got me putting my butt down in front of my computer more; hence my novel is into its final chapters.
I plan on listening to the rest of the books from my list throughout 2020. It’s been quite a few years since I’ve read some of them but I’ve kept them around in paperback for a reason. They inspire me. I hope you find inspiration in some of them as well, and I would love to hear about writing books that you might recommend.
Write On!
WRITING PROMPT 1: Write for 5 minutes on how you will commit to your writing.
WRITING PROMPT 2: Candice set her book, If You Want To Write, on her milkcrate side table and…
Books On Writing
- On Writing: A memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King
- Take Joy: A Book For Writers by Jane Yolan
- Writing Down The Bones: Freeing The Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Save The Cat! Writes A Novel by Jessica Brody
- The War Of Art: Break Through the Blocks And Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
- Is Life Like This: A Guide To Writing Your First Novel In Six Months by John Dufresne
- Writing The Memoir: From Truth To Art by Judith Barrington
- If You Want To Write: Thoughts About Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
- Fierce On The Page: Become The Writer You Were Meant To Be by Sage Cohen
- Steering The Craft: Exercises And Discussions On Story Writing For The Lone navigator Of The Mutinous Crew by Ursula K LeGuin
- This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
