Congratulations! Who Are You Again? by Harrison Scott Key (Harper Perennial, 2018). For details, see Finding Sources of Support, Part I and Part II.
The Hero Is You: Sharpen Your Focus, Conquer Your Demons, and Become the Writer You Were Born to Be by Kendra Levin (Conari Press, 2016). For details, see Finding Sources of Support Part II.
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (Tarchar, 1992) The Artist’s Way is more than 20 years old, but I still consider it the most inspiring book I’ve encountered. I get something new every time I read it. Although I have yet to follow Cameron’s advice about morning pages, I find that any writing project becomes less intimidating when I approach it as if I’m going to write morning pages the way Cameron describes them. Her brainstorming exercises always inspire new ideas and foster self-awareness.
Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir of the Writer’s Life by Brett Lott Lott’s memoir combines passages from famous stories with vignettes from his life to ground his often lofty and academic musings about writing. Perhaps best described as “meditative,” the book isn’t light reading or a page-turner, but it offers a unique attempt to break open what it really means to write—what a writer actually does one the page. The first chapter focuses on crucial differences among the words a, the, and this. Lott contends that a story’s plot can hinge on a writer’s choice of a rather than the, and he analyzes stories that demonstrate his claim. As unlikely as it sounds that a single article in a single sentence could launch or sink a story’s plot, I found myself convinced. That introductory discussion becomes a springboard for the theme Lott returns to throughout his book: writers in every genre must pay obsessive attention to word choice.
The Writing Life: Writers On How They Think And Work edited by Marie Arana (PublicAffairs, 2003) The Writing Life is a nice catchall, in that it covers fiction and nonfiction, process and product. Its editor, Marie Arana, selected contributors to the book and shaped its content to reflect her experience as the Washington Post’s “Writing Life” columnist. Chapters vary widely in their usefulness to writers. A few offer little more than clichés, but most provide a fascinating glimpse into a famous author’s inner-workings. Perhaps the book’s most helpful revelation is that published writers come in all forms, from all backgrounds, and overcome all manner of obstacles to make their voices heard, so there’s no reason we readers can’t join their authors’ ranks.
Recordings from Hypnosis Downloads by Uncommon Knowledge (Uncommon Knowledge Ltd, 2019). As the heading suggests, this resource is an audio file rather than a book. Uncommon Knowledge is a company founded and run by four therapists with impressive credentials who offer.mp3 files anyone can purchase, download, and use for self-improvement. While hypnosis has been proven unreliable for recovering or enhancing memories, it can and does alter mindsets, change habits, and improve skills. Hypnosis’s effectiveness varies according to an individuals’ susceptibility to suggestion, but writers’ powerful imaginations make them more likely to benefit than others. I have found Uncommon Knowledge’s self-hypnosis tracks more impactful (not to mention more convenient and cost-effective) than appointments with trained hypnotists because self-hypnosis puts me in control of the time, place, conditions, and topic covered. I use the self-hypnosis tracks at home, where I am fully relaxed—the most important condition to determine whether hypnosis will be successful. I notice a substantial boost in creativity, concentration, writing output, and overall sense of well-being when I use these tracks regularly: Creativity Booster, Write Every Day, and Creative Writing Hypnosis. Additional tracks writers might find useful include Reach Your Goals, Long-Term Motivation, and Overcome Obstacles.
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