I’ve been sorting my bookshelves out, culling and returning books. For years I have organized spines by colour, but a change of mood saw me rearrange everything thematically. It was there in the new non-fiction section I discovered that alongside more fashion/design/photography books than is sensible for flatting, I also own a massive horde of books on writing. Despite a lot of chafe, there are some real gems on my bookshelf, concerning both the technical and holistic side of scribbling.
As I always enjoy peeping at other people’s ‘professional’ bookshelves – “Oh so that’s how designers keep their souls intact!” – I thought I would share my favourite books on writing with you.
The advice is simple – just do it bird by bird. One little part at a time. This is super advice for your choice of horrid essays, magazine articles that don’t research themselves, poems (stanza by stanza) or the great American novel. The book is divided into short chapters with a view to encourage clarity, energy and fearlessness in your writing. Lamott is also a very funny woman, who has a charmingly deft way of characterising everyone she knows; from random women she meets while dress shopping, to her son Sam.
A Writer’s Book Of Days (subtitled ‘A Spirited Companion & Lively Muse for the Writing Life‘) is a yearlong program of sorts. Each date has a specific topic suggestion, accompanied by thoughts on writer’s block, the quirks and idiosyncrasies of published authors, and expectation management. Despite the title (and naff design) I feel Book Of Days is more on the practical rather than spiritual side of things. I have to admit, hefty helpings of Miller and Kerouac helped give it credibility to me as a literary snob. If you’re stuck, don’t know where to start or just need a daily kick in the pants, this is a good book to pick up.
To give you an idea of this book’s age, the author’s picture depicts Ogilvy thoughtfully puffing on a pipe inside his office. No matter, despite the age of the book, the lessons are timeless. Ogilvy lays out the foundations of good advertising, laying out the basics of salesmanship and how writing must work to achieve the end goal, profit. For example, sex sells, but only if it’s relevant to the product – cook tops and nudity don’t mix. The ads featured are shockingly outmoded, but are wonderful to learn from (and look at – think lots of eighties boobs).
Writing Down The Bones focuses on writing as a spiritual practice (Goldberg is a Zen Buddhist) but goes down nicely, like a cup of Matcha green tea. My favourite chapter is on Composting – the process of composting your thoughts, letting the good stuff eventuate from the pile of matter. This notion is something I refer to almost daily since I first read the book a few year ago (you can read it here for free). Another thing this book taught me was to be specific. Learn the names of things and use them fastidiously; orecchiette not pasta, affenpinscher not puppy.
Who knew old King was a coke-head? Not I, but that’s just one part of King’s story. A biographical tale mixed in with advice, On Writing is an inspiring tale of how you can make it from nothing, lose it all and come back again. The practical side of the book is truly wonderful, you’re learning from a master who will give you the blade to sharpen your dialogue as pointy as vampire fangs and cut excellent deals once you gain the attention of publishers. My copy is a trashy little trade paperback, and as you can see from the photographs, it’s been well loved.
The tagline on her website states “Author. Writer. Totally Awesome Girl.”
Lesely Arfin is an amazing writer with a ton of sass and style. In 2007 her book Dear Diary was published – an examination of the journal entries she penned as a teenager and in her early twenties. She lives in New York City in a super adorable apartment with books above the kitchen bench. Currently she has a monthly column in Russh magazine, offers sage advice, writes regularly at Cafe Con Lesley and has just started a blog called I Never Go Out. She kindly answered a few of my questions.
What do you enjoy the most about what you do? I love that it’s hard and sometimes I hate it but I keep doing it because an orgasm in my brain happens when I get that release. I’m addicted to that feeling.
What’s the best lesson you’ve learnt (professional or personal)? That staying true to myself often leads to the best possible results (personal). Also I’ve learned that when doing a job for someone else, it is most important to be of service to the job rather than myself (professional).
What is your essential daily ritual? Usually I wake up, make coffee immediately, head to the office. Stop for a carrot juice and salad or oatmeal. I work on whatever project or just write for a good few hours (albeit fucking around on Internet is unavoidable) and after that I go to my class (substance abuse counseling) or just go home, eat with friends, read, chill, whatever.
What do you do if you’re not inspired? How do you shake a creative block off? Cleaning helps me. Reading, meditating, sometimes calling people and getting out of my house or office and just forgetting about it for a little while. Often just powering through and writing anyway will usually force the block to run and hide.
Digital or analog? Both.
Which person, living or dead, would you most like to meet? What about the unborn? I’m interested in meeting my unborn children. I’d like to meet up with all my dead friends and my grandpa.
What dream do you still want to fulfill? I want a Porsche, babies, property, multiple properties. I want to be in NY Magazine one day. I’d like to get a PhD. I’d like to live in an apartment that can fit a couch. Write another book, get more commercial work, start my own rehab center, learn more about alternative medicine, get a juicer, take a ballet class, sing in a punk band, become interested in science-y things, everything… The list gets longer everyday.
Current inspirations/obsessions? Kind of obsessed with girl graffiti writers, this girl Tracy I just met, this girl Elizabeth I work with. Always inspired by witchcraft, surfers, punks, jocks, dicks, freaks, weirdos, losers, black people, white people, space cadets, looney birds, sex workers, diamond thieves, drag queens, trash, disgust, barf, puke, shit, etc.
What sound or noise do you love the most? The sound of rap music. The sound of Mama Cass singing.
I’ve been reading a lot about “Haul Videos” of late; obnoxious consumers make YouTube videos of all the crap they bought at the mall. It’s a close relation of the “Unboxing” phenomena, where tech nerds salubriously peel the plastic off their shiny new Macbooks etc. I find it repulsive and fascinating all at once! Here’s the closest you’ll ever get to seeing me do one: the second-hand book haul.
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 – edited by Dave Eggers. So, the angle of my photograph disguises it, but the Nana on the cover is actually reading the child a gun catalogue. Boom. I can already tell this is my sort of book. It’s a pretty fresh edition too, hurrah. $12.00
Not Her Real Name and Other Stories – Emily Perkins. Perkins spoke at a recent Pecha Kucha night here in Auckland – I loved her clear tone and thoughtful manner. Later on I realised I hadn’t yet picked up any of her books… I’m excited for this one! $7.00
Design Writing Research – Ellen Lupton. I have a new job writing on design and this discourse is one of the best examples of design writing in the field. A surprising find and bargain at $35.00
I also bought Laza some Kafka (he chose The Trial, I believe) and This Is Rome – a fantastic picture book from the 60’s by M. Sasek. And that’s my book haul!
If location shapes a person, it must be noted that the writer Tao Lin was born (in 1983) in Virginia, grew up in Orlando, Florida and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Lin’s books thus far include 2009’s ‘Shoplifting from American Apparel’, a poetry anthology ‘cognitive-behavioral therapy’ (2008) as well as fiction pieces Eeeee Eee Eeee and Bed (both 2007). He possesses an excellent grasp of punctuation and one of the best URLs in existence.
What do you enjoy the most about what you do? Listening to music while looking at the internet after drinking coffee.
What are your essential daily rituals? Looking at Gmail, Statcounter, Twitter, Tumblr, Sales Rank Express, eating fruit, drinking smoothies, drinking green juice, drinking coconut shakes, drinking coffee, exercising in my room, listening to music through earphones, showering.
Who is your hero (real, fictional or otherwise)? I don’t know.
What do you do if you’re not inspired? How do you shake a creative block off? I do the same things if I’m inspired, not inspired, feeling creative, or not feeling creative, I think. I eat fruit, drink coffee, and look at my emails. If I’m working on something I look at sentences on the computer screen moving words around while adding new words, deleting words, and doing things with punctuation. Maybe 85-95% of the time that I am working on something “intense creativity” isn’t required. Maybe 50-70% of the time “no creativity” is required.
What’s your favourite sound/noise? I like listening to the snare drum in certain songs. I don’t think I have a favorite sound/noise. Maybe “silence” or whatever I hear when I’m asleep. Maybe my girlfriend’s voice when she is speaking in a calm, affectionate tone to me (when I have a girlfriend, don’t have one right now).
What do you consider your big breakthrough? Urban Outfitters selling “Shoplifting from American Apparel.”
What’s the best decision you’ve made? I don’t know.
Any current inspirations or obsessions? I’ve been listening to a playlist of all “The Blacktop Cadence” songs recently on repeat.
What are you reading? I’m on page ~150 of “The Ruined Map” by Kobo Abe.
Finally, digital or analog? Not really sure what “analog” means. Maybe not sure what “digital” means either in the context of your question. Probably I’ll “go with” “digital” since it seems newer.
A little while ago I was lying in bed, having a nice daydream (probably about having a pet narwhal), when I abruptly remembered that somewhere in my boxes of ephemera I had a letter from Keri Hulme. I dug it out.
Hulme is the author of the bone people – winner of the Booker Prize in 1985. It tells the story of 3 characters, shifting perspectives and weaving their dreams, aspirations and fears together. From Amazon:“[It] explores the potential within families for both destruction and healing, as well as the great personal costs of the disintegration of individual connections to traditional communities and cultures – in this case, the indigenous Maori culture of New Zealand.”
the bone people has been a a bit of a contentious book over the years, garnering both good and bad reviews. I recently reexamined it and found while the non-traditional shape of the book is deliberate decision, it would have perhaps benefited from a thorough edit. Positively, I found the exploration of Maori spirituality and language to be absurdly refreshing. (That said, it shouldn’t be, why isn’t this expression more common in the literature of this country?)
In any case, the letter my younger self received is so nice and generous I thought I’d share (and yes, I love the astrology references):
My request was for a barely remembered school project – an illustrated calendar with a different literary figure for each month. I also found it hilarious that I had clearly said to her “I want to be a writer”. Funny how things turn out.
My mother is a big fan of ‘reaching out’ to people, so as a kid I also had correspondence with British poets, a builder based in Antarctica and other amazing people.Have you ever connected with someone you admire?
Dinner with Murakami is a 2007 documentary directed by Yan Ting Yuen about the life and work of legendary Japanese author Haruki Murakami.
“Largely structured round Murakami’s enigmatic absence, the film dramatizes Murakami’s impact on his readers and takes the camera into the hinterland to determine what is “Murakamian” in the Japanese landscape. The resulting film has a beautiful sense of form and poetic structure.” [Indie Flick Pick]
In the film everybody from groupies who hang outside Murakami’s old jazz club to schoolchildren, share their piece on the publicity shy writer. Norwegian Wood has been likened to the Nippon equivalent of J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye; so it is unsurprising most Japanese people have a story to tell about their relationship with Murakami’s work.
I love reading, and I love watching people read. Observing them drift into a state of deep concentration that sees them ignoring screaming babies, fires and once in a lifetime frisbee catches. It makes them forget that the cup of tea has gone cold and slightly soupy, and their toes are freezing despite 2 pairs of socks. They’re in another place, you can see it on their faces.
Of course, you need fuel to feed this fire. Here’s a list of alternative reading list suggestions – it could make for an interesting year…
Read all the recipients of a major literary prize, e.g. every Booker.
I am still very enthused about choosing books purely by colour. Have a red book month or for the teeth-grinders amongst you, black.
Read the top ten books from the year of your birth.
Or if you don’t like you birth year’s selection, how about 1971?
Exclusively read books set in tiny Portuguese villages.
Exclusively read novels by Alaskans.
Delve into the classic books of your country – they are waiting for you. Or another nation’s novels – France, Spain, Canada. (Thanks Mausumi!)
Find a theme that unnerves you. Grief, sexuality, loneliness. Happiness.
Ask ten of your friends for their favourite book titles. Start there.
Then ask ten people who are at least 10 years older than you.
My Form 2 teacher (that’s age 12) gave me this list he photocopied (from gawd knows where) of the supposed top 100 must read books. I made a start and have been carrying it around ever since. You can do better than me!
: Anne Lamott
: David Ogilvy
: Natalie Goldberg
: Stephen King
by Emily Gould.
– edited by Dave Eggers. So, the angle of my photograph disguises it, but the Nana on the cover is actually reading the child a gun catalogue. Boom. I can already tell this is my sort of book. It’s a pretty fresh edition too, hurrah. $12.00
– Emily Perkins. Perkins spoke at a recent 
– Ellen Lupton. I have a new job writing on design and this discourse is one of the best examples of design writing in the field. A surprising find and bargain at $35.00
