Books to Bring out the Creative Writer in You
I haven’t talked a whole lot about my writing on this blog. I’m not entirely sure why. I am still exploring my own personal writing process, especially with blogging, and I guess I’m just not ready to expose myself in such a vulnerable state. I’ve always hated exposing any of my vulnerabilities. But, that’s a whole different therapy session in itself.
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I often have this love/hate relationship with my own writing. I know that when I sit down in front my iBook with the intention of pounding out the next story, blog post or rant on my unduly-broken-in keyboard, the words will come. If I just sit down, type and ignore the backspace key for one round, I will find that moment of comfort where all is truly right with the world. I am writer, hear me roar!
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, what sounds like the easiest part is often the hardest for me: getting my butt in that chair and deciding to write. Can you relate? Do you just need a little jump start of inspiration sometimes? Boy, do I ever.
I find my inspiration from all sorts of sources, but I’ve found the best spark for the writer in me comes from books - not blogs, online articles or magazines - but books. I think it’s because I’ve always had this appetite for them. The content and contruction of books make this amazing little package that fits in your hands, is perfect to curl up to and reaches so many different people in so many completely different ways. I can’t wait to write my first one.
Here are five books that are truly special to me. During those times I’m fighting the thought of that computer chair, I can always count on these little packages to deliver.
1. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron - No mistake that I stuck this book at number one. The first time I worked through this book was in high school, and I’ve done it two or three times since. Each time gets more rewarding. Cameron has the most beautiful and gentle way of giving you a swift kick in the ass when it comes to using your creativity. Just writing these few sentences about the book, makes me itch to start the process again. I believe I just might.
2. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott - Shitty first drafts, broccoli and index cards. If you are confused by any of these, you must immediately drop what you are doing (well after you finish reading my post :)), and go get this book. Lamott is a pistol with a pen, a poet with poise. From the book’s intro on writing: “It’s like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony.”
3. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert - A mix of grace, wit and that I’d-love-to-have-a-beer with you quality, Gilbert invites the reader to share in one of the most deeply personal experiences in her life. As she makes a major life change, she travels to Italy, Indonesia and India, and brings you along as she immerses herself in all three extremely different cultures. I guarantee Gilbert’s journey to rekindle her passion for life will ignite some kind of passion in you. I’m also totally jealous of her experiences from this book, by the way.
4. A Writer’s Time by Kenneth Atchity - Published in 1986, this is one of those books that will matter and mean something ten years or one hundred years from now. Atchity explores the creative process of writing, and offers poignant advice on all the steps in it. This book may be a little less “touchy-feely” than the ones I’ve listed so far, but its value is no less.
5. The Right to Write by Julia Cameron - Yep, another J.C. book. She’s just too wonderful. This book is not nearly as well-known as The Artist’s Way, but I love it just as much. She talks about quite a few of the same concepts from it, but here she explores them much more deeply. Some passages in this book I need only think about for a split second and I find that desire to write, and to be a writer….
“In a sense, our creativity is none of our business. It is a givin, not something to be aspired to. It is not an invention of our ego. It is, instead, a natural function of our soul. We are intended to breathe and to live. We are intended to listen and create. We do not need special pens. We do not need special rooms or even special times. What we do need is the intention to allow creativity to create through us. When we open ourselves up to something or someone greater than ourselves working through us, we paradoxically open ourselves to our own greatest selves.”
