The resources here transcend the specific writing steps that I’ve described in the 26 writing experiments. They include books other people have written about writing, many of which I keep at my fingertips. Some of them have been recommended by members of my writing groups. Browse through them to see which fit your current writing needs. I truly believe the point I made in Sit Experiment 6, that a particular person’s writing may be just what someone needs to hear. There is room for many books about writing because different writers have different needs. Perhaps you could benefit from some of the following in addition to what I’ve provided in Sit Write Share.
- Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. Tarcher Perigee Anniversary Edition, 2016.
- Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer. Little Brown Spark, 2008.Is it pure coincidence that we both had 55 ideas, or is there something magic about that number? While we cover some of the same ground, he goes much deeper into the actual crafting of prose, while I have perhaps a broader range of writing activities.
- Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. Penguin, 2016.I particularly love her discussion of inspiration chasing us around and then abandoning us for someone else if we are not ready to take it on.
- Natalie Goldberg, Writing Done the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Shambhala; Anniversary edition, 2016.
- Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the CraftThis is more a memoir than a how-to book, but we can always learn by watching experts in action.
- Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor, 1995.I particularly like the lighthouse metaphor right at the end. Stand on your hill and shine.
- Stephen Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. Black Irish Entertainment LLC, January 11, 2012.Another book recommended by writers in my groups.
- Brenda Ueland, If Your Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. Martino Fine Books, 2011.This is a 2011 reprint of a book published in 1938. The author believed, ““Everyone is talented, original, and has something important to say.”
- National Centre of Writing. Free Resources for Writers.
- Gotham Writers. Writing Tools: Tips from the Masters.This collection includes tips from various authors including Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, Annie Proulx, and Edgar Allan Poe. I have given the direct link to Kurt Vonnegut’s tips because they made me laugh, but you can use the leftside panel to find your way to other authors. Yes, they are mostly about writing fiction, and this book is not complete for fiction authors. But I believe many points are relevant, such as Vonnegut’s first tip: “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.”
