5 of the Best Life-Changing Writing Books
Whether you’re writing for business or you’re writing for pleasure, there’s a lot to be said for finding tips about how to write well.
In this week’s video I want to share with you five of my all-time favourite, life changing writing books.
Video Transcript: 5 of the Best Life-Changing Writing Books
The first two writing books I want to share with you are both written by Natalie Goldberg.
#1. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
This book has helped me so much in my writing life in being able to break things down and come at the writing projects that I’m working on with this particular mindset that allows for first drafts and allows for the development of a process by following what Natalie talks about in her book, Writing Down the Bones.
#2. Wild Mind, Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie Goldberg
Her other book called ‘Wild Mind, Living the Writer’s Life‘ is full of actual processes that you can try at home and use as springboards to give you some inspiration. It helps you look at the details of the writing you’re doing, or to forget about the details of the writing that you’re doing, and she keeps throwing these handy exercises in to give you a springboard to work from.
#3. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
On the back of the cover it says her older brother was having to write an essay and it was meant to be all about different species of birds. He had three months to write it and it was coming up to be due the next day, so he was freaking out. Their dad said, “Son, you’ve just got to write it, bird by bird.”
This is certainly how I feel when it comes to writing my current book about creativity, I need to focus on one section at a time.
Anne’s book Bird by Bird is extremely funny, it’s a delightful read and it’s sure to get your inspiration and creative juices flowing.
#4. Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper by SARK
The fourth book is by my beloved SARK, who you probably know I love all her books.
She breaks thing down to be so fun and colourful. You can see in here it’s quite an unusual kind of book. It’s like talking to a friend and sharing practical tools about how she works through her writing projects, because she’s written a lot of books.
Juicy Pens sure to takes the perfectionist off your shoulder and help you feel like you can actually begin getting something down on paper.
#5. On Writing by Stephen King
The fifth book I don’t have a copy of because I love it so much I’m constantly giving it away, but it’s Stephen King’s book On Writing.
The first half of this book is about Stephen King’s life and his childhood growing up and it’s very funny and don’t worry if you’re not a Stephen King fan, personally I find his books too scary but his book On Writing is brilliant in the way it breaks down in the second half of the book ways of improving your writing. He talks about some of the basic tools you need in your toolkit to become a good writer.
I always refer back to On Writing and I refer to it in our online course ‘Flourish with Painting & Creativity‘ because it’s just amazing. There’s so many handy ways to approach writing by following some of the tools that Stephen King shares.
Those are my five favorite writing books!
I’d love to hear what yours are in the comments below. Make sure you’re gentle with yourself this week, nurture your creativity and I’ll see you next week.
With love,
Nicola xx