Books To Read To Keep Your Writing Momentum Up
If you are a writer, then you know there is nothing more intimidating than a blank page. Sure, this image is also full of possibility, but where does one begin? A professor of mine once said that real writing only happens when you refuse to let yourself leave your desk at exactly the moment you want to leave. I think he stole this sentiment from Tobias Wolff or Raymond Carver who probably stole it from someone else. It could have been any writer really because the reality of writing is that when you are staring at a blank page with the goal of turning nothing into something, basically any other activity sounds more appealing. Folding laundry and picking-up dog shit from your backyard become urgent matters you cannot wait to do.
While this professor often quoted other writers (most of whom he claimed to know personally) in a way I would mock while smoking cigarettes after class with my peers, much of what I learned in that class, from the many writers’ whose voices entered the room, led to my own writing routines and rules. My biggest writing rule, other than meeting an hourly minimum each week, is that during the hours I am meant to be writing there is no internet, no phone, and no leaving the room. There can, however, be plenty of books. In fact, surrounding myself with shelves of books has helped to keep me in the room and even pick up the pen on days I was sure I would spend my entire mandatory writing time staring at the white wall in front of me and waiting for the hours to pass as quickly as possible so I could finally be released from my self-mandated confinement.
Now of course, “great literature” is of the many types of books I keep near me in in my studio, but I have also found that I love books on and about writing. They started collecting in my studio as though reading about writing might help get me writing. Not surprisingly, it often does. In fact, despite the many admonishes on the ways I might avoid writing, I never regret picking up a book in which writing is in some way the theme. In fact, I almost always find myself not avoiding writing after reading the books I have come to adore sharing studio space with.
Below is a list of novels, short stories, and non-fiction that have helped keep me at my desk on days I was sure I wouldn’t be able to get even a single word on the page. Some of them are obvious in why they serve as inspiration and others have much more nuanced ways of inspiring.
The Secret Miracle: The Novelist’s Handbook by Daniel Alarcón
This book is not just for novelists! It is one of my favorite books to just pick up and open when I am feeling stuck. It is broken up into categorical chapters where many published authors answer questions about craft and process. It is a true testament to the individual process and finding what works for you as a writer.
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
While this book isn’t necessarily about writing, it is about college life and the artistic/intellectual mind which can either disillusion you or allow you to romanticize your own intellectual future.
Happy Endings by Margaret Atwood
This metafictional short story will be sure to prompt at least one new writing exercise every time you return to it.
Invisible by Paul Auster
This book changed the way I thought about fiction. It might have single-handedly converted me from a poet to a fiction writer.
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
This novel has college and writing and also world travel and also a narrator navigating the internet for the first time. What’s not to love?
Trust Exercise by Susan Choi
Not a book about writing but about teenagers and theatre which feels like a close second and will have you questioning everything you ever did as a teenager and as an artist.
Break it Down by Lydia Davis
Really, any short story collection by Davis. I dare you to pick one up and not instantly open a new word doc on your laptop. Her stories are short (some barely a sentence) and they often deal with writing or storytelling.
Fates & Furies by Lauren Groff
This book has it all. Writing. Elite artists’ colonies. Plus, Barack Obama called it his favorite book of 2015.
Lit by Mary Karr
An honest portrayal of addiction, marriage, and writing from master-memoirist and poet, Mary Karr.
On Writing by Stephen King
This book has made it on most lists of this kind and for good reason.
Intimations by Alexandra Kleeman
Another collection with metafictional gems to have you re-evaluating just what exactly a piece of fiction is capable of.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont
A classic collection of inspirational essays on writing.
Scratch edited by Majula Martin
This great anthology of essays by published writers on how they made money writing is a MUST READ for all young authors. While in many ways it can feel pragmatic and discouraging, there is a refreshing truth to it and a deep undertone of the passion of writing and how it sustains us.
Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss
This novel feels like writing. A gorgeous take on art, writing about art, and the very real ways that art and writing change our lives.
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
This is a perfect novel if you want to feel nostalgia for your younger self (the one that first discovered writing) on every single page.
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About Shelby Hinte
Shelby Hinte is a writer and educator living in the Bay Area. She received her MFA in Fiction from San Francisco State University where she was the recipient of the 2019 Distinguished Graduate award. She has been a contributing food and beverage writer for Edible Santa Fe. Her fiction has appeared in Vagabond Lit, Witness Magazine, Hobart, Quiet Lightning's Sparkle + Blink, decomP magazinE, and elsewhere. She is currently at work on a novel about women and vortexes in the desert.
