Help me choose a book about writing!
For the last year, the Madison Street Books Writer’s Group, which I’m part of and have the honor of leading, has been going through Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin. It’s been really interesting and helpful: the chapters are short, there are fun exercises, and we’ve all enjoyed the discussions. But as we close out 2024, we’re looking towards finishing the last chapter in January and I’ve been spending some of my days sniffing around, looking for another good book choice.
Like (I think?) most writers who have been at it for awhile, I have a shelf full of writing books. Some gifted, some bought, some I’ve loved, and a few I’ve only skimmed. I’m going to go through some of them, and I’m interested to hear if anyone has any recommendations.
I feel like at least two that typically get mentioned don’t really work for a group setting: On Writing by Stephen King and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I really enjoyed both of these, but they’re both more like memoirs with very specific writing sections. Discussable, relatable, but not really writer’s group books? I’m not sure.
I’d also put Writing Down the Bones in a similar, but more philosophical category. I loved it, and it’s filled with wise words! Maybe I’d also put The Writing Life by Annie Dillard in this category. These are about the concept of writing more than they are about how to do it. I often gravitate towards this kind of writing book, and find them the most underline-able and enjoyable. I’d also put, say, Let Me Tell You by Shirley Jackson or A Circle of Quiet by Madeline L’Engle here. I love these insightful books! But they’re more for personal reading, right?
On the other end, there are more technical books like On Writing Well by William Zinsser, or Sense of Style by Steven Pinker. To be honest, I’ve only dipped into these (Don’t come for me, I’m sorry!) and realistically I think they might be the best kind of choice for our group. On the other hand, are they a little dry? Are the chapters a bit long? I’m not sure. Oh, I’ve really enjoyed parts of Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern as well– is that similar?
I think an interesting choice could be more of a “reading as a writer” angle. I’m thinking of A Swim In The Pond in the Rain by George Saunders, which is brilliant but dense, and requires a lot of folks who are short on time and trying to get their own writing done. Something like the classic How Fiction Works by James Wood could also be a lot of fun to discuss!
I have a few left field candidates too, hear me out. I feel like we might have fun reading something like How To Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy, or Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner. The Eisner was a real favorite of mine in grad school– I only tried my hand at writing a few comics for funsies, but the form was super interesting and taught me a lot about how I want to write. I haven’t read the Jeff Tweedy book sadly, but I’m a big fan of Wilco! And I feel like there’s something really life-giving about taking a wholly different angle to writing and then reapplying those ideas.
I have two very random books on my radar as well that I just bought and haven’t read more than a little bit of, but they’re great so far. Meander Spiral Explode by Jane Allison is fascinating– it’s about other narrative structures besides the classic build-to-climax. I’ve also just started What About The Baby by Alice McDermott, and so far it’s kind of a mix between technical and personal– not sure if that will yield perfect discussion, but it could work. Has anyone read it?
Oh my goodness, I’m obviously missing a lot! I’d be so interested if anyone has suggestions– especially if they worked well for a group of writers who all tend towards different kinds of writing.
In fact, would there be a fun book we (yes us!) could read together in this community next year? I’d totally be up for a virtual book discussion in 2025 with the Pub Cheerleaders community!
Since I’ve got a fairly long list of books recommended above, I’ll leave off without a “Reading Recommendations” section. I’ll just say this– whatever you’re reading and whatever you’re writing this December, I’m wishing you all the joy this season has to offer! <3
Steve Almond’s Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow worked well for my book group.
Two books you might consider because both are written with wry humor as well as wisdom about writing: Benjamin Percy's "Thrill Me" (cheesy cover but that's part of the fun) with chapters like "making the extraordinary ordinary" and "feckless pondering" and Chuck Wendig's "Gentle Writing Advice" with chapters like "But Do I need to Write Every Day?" and "Nobody Knows What They're Doing" (but members will need to be comfortable with lots of swearing in this one)