Turning to Others for Inspiration: 3 Craft Books for Writers
Sometimes, there’s just no easy way to get started. Despite the best efforts to stimulate the brain, to rouse and shake loose even a single, simple sentence, nothing good or bad comes — nothingness blankets the mind.
It happens to all writers of all experience. And if there’s at least one thing I’ve learned during this time of quarantine and COVID-19, it’s that being home as often am I am, having the ability to write at any point of the day — a desperate wish I once had during the long weeks of undergrad and the longer weekends waiting tables — hasn’t amounted to what I’d hope it would.
When word first broke in Maryland that remote work was, more or less, mandatory for those employers/employees who are able to do so, I thought it was my time to refocus on my writing; to get back on a routine and finish working on the numerous open projects I had slowly been picking away at. That was the dream. In reality, I’ve slept in more times than I can count until the last minute before work starts. By the time I reach the end of work most days, I’m too mentally fatigued to devote myself to a new short story or poem or essay. And the rare days I do have the fortitude and drive to work, it’s quickly snuffed out by the bleak news on any given day.
We live in exhaustive times. Everywhere we turn, another issue; another stressor. I lay in bed, body weary from the day, and feel guilty in my fatigue. I fall asleep; the cycle begins again. When I am able to wake before the sun fully rises, I shuffle to my desk and sit, determined to get something, desperate to get anything, written.
I’ve turned towards other means of finding inspiration and generating ideas. To write, even just the briefest story, I’ve looked back to college, when a professor of mine recommended a couple of books to help when I may not be at my sharpest.
For a while after I bought them, I was reluctant to read through them, which irritated me — why would I waste money on these 3 books if I wasn’t going to use them. Pride often got the best of me, convincing myself that real writer’s didn’t need such things. But now that years have placed space between who I was then and who I am now, I realized that real writer’s are the ones who write, regardless of where the inspiration comes from. And the more we write, the stronger the writing will become. It doesn’t matter where the story comes from, as long as it comes from the truest part of ourselves.
With that in mind, I pulled them from the milk crate where I kept old books, ones rarely read or thought about, and dusted them off.
What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
The oldest of the 3 books for writers, What If? was published in 1990, but still carries its own today. Written by two creative writing teachers, it is a great learning tool for those just starting out or for those who may need a refresher on some elements of writing fiction. It’s broken into eleven sections that range from improving the beginnings of stories to what we, as writers, can learn from those greats who came before, and it includes plenty of great examples to learn from. Each exercise tends to build on the last, so it pays off to read this the whole way through in order rather than skipping around.
The idea that Bernays and Painter try to instill is to write like a writer and to think like a writer. This, to me, is a bit campy, but I understand what they were trying to get at. It’s worth a read, even if just to participate in some of the exercises they’ve developed.
Here’s an example of an exercise from “I: Beginnings”:
THE EXERCISE
Begin a story with this line: Where were you last night?
THE OBJECTIVE
The objective is to once more start with the story in medias res — in the middle of things.
Notice how this question begins in the middle of a situation. For example, “last night,” the subject of the question, has already happened. If one character asks another question there are already two people “on stage.” And the question will probably produce a conflict. But don’t get hung up on making it a line of dialogue — it can be used many different ways. (Pg. 11)”
The 3 A.M. Epiphany: Uncommon Writing Exercises That Transform Your Fiction by Brian Kiteley
This is one that I’m sure quite a few of you might already be familiar with in some way. Many creative writing instructors, at least the ones that I’ve had, have recommended this book in some fashion.
With twenty different sections for different exercises, this one is less about the educational aspect of writing like What If? and more about getting the writer writing. From perspective to setting to humor, the exercises have a wide range and variety that will satisfy almost any fiction writer while introducing you to potentially new ideas, concepts, and forms of storytelling.
One of the best parts about this book, there is no order to it. While it can be read in order, the book shines when it’s just flipped open and an exercise if picked at random. To me, this is the best way to engage with the prompts Kiteley has come up with. And with over 200 exercises, it’ll give you plenty of ideas to engage with, along with some brief background as to why or how the exercise may be important and useful; not to mention a target word count to aim for those of us who might be little too wordy in our writing.
It’s quick inspiration that offers the potential for genuine and engaging stories to come out of. If there’s only one of these 3 books for writers you’d pick first, I’d highly recommend this one — if you don’t already own it, that is.
Here’s an example of an exercise from “Characters and Ways of Seeing”:
38: SENTENCED TO DEATH
Take a sentence from a writer you admire or who provokes strong feelings in your gut. Preferably, this should be a fairly long sentence with a lot of different words in it. Use any of the words and only those words (repeating words from the sentence as often as you want) to make up fifteen sentences of your own — adhering around a character or situation that seems related to the author of this sentence, but it need not be a direct response to the author. The word length of this exercise depends on how long each of these fifteen sentences is, but it will probably be about 200 words. (Pg. 62)”
Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer Edited by Bret Anthony Johnston
Not to tout a book’s back cover description, but being a self-proclaimed “masterclass” isn’t far from the truth. What makes Naming the World unique is that it isn’t a creative exercise book that was written by creative writing teachers, but rather it is an aggregation os writing tips, advice, and exercises from established writers like Richard Bausch, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Robbins, Elizabeth Strout, and so many others. This book feels, at times, like a long apprenticeship to many.
While What If? shines for introducing or reintroducing key elements of fiction and teaches the reader ways to be a better writer and 3 A.M. Epiphany for the variety and quick-nature of the book’s exercises, Naming a World covers all the bases and then goes a step further, offering exercises that aim to help improve the revision process. And keep in mind that all the exercises come from writers of all ilk.
For me, that’s the most refreshing element of this book for writers. Having exercises, advice and thoughts from many different writers offers a better perspective than those coming from just one, even if they are using examples to make their claims.
Out of the three books for writers, I’d say this one might be the more “advanced” of the group, though you can’t really go wrong with any of them. I found this one to be a bit more insightful than the other two in some instances, but it's also my preference to read what established writers are working on or how they tend to generate their ideas.
Here’s an example of an exercise from the “Plot and Narrative” created by Michelle Wildgen on “The Particular Gesture: Writing Sex Scenes”:
THE EXERCISES
Exercise 1: Write about the final time a couple has sex. One person knows this is the last time they’ll be together; the other doesn’t. By the end of the scene, both realize this is it. The catch? Try to write it without saying anything outright about the characters’ emotional states. The couple is using body language to convey emotion; so should the writer. As you write, limit yourself to the most important details: the unexpected sensory and visual detail and the specific, emotionally loaded gesture. When you find yourself describing a fairly typical gesture, delete it. Write only the unique moments and let the rest remain in the white space.
Exercise 2: Forget about joyous union; write the unexpected sex scene. Try writing about an act that might be perceived as downright filthy — but make it as tender as you can. Write about extremely unfulfilling sex. Write a sex scene between the most unlikely partners you can imagine, and instead of heightening the absurdity of it, make us believe it and care about it.
All in all, any one of these 3 books for writers will lead you to write that one, brief sentence. Sometimes we need to go beyond ourselves and look to others for help. It’s worth reminding you that there’s no shame in asking for help, even if that asking is nothing more than flipping the page.
I’ve done so. I’m here. And those mornings when my mind is shrouded in fog, these books serve as a light to guide me through it.
