Does anyone else have a bookshelf like this? I’ve accumulated several books on writing from my degree and from my own interest in developing my craft (*cringe*). I feel like this is what a noob writer does – read about writing to avoid actually having to, you know, write.
I think my favourite book on writing is Stephen King’s On Writing which simultaneously inspires me and terrifies me.
He doesn’t muck about, does he? And whilst I am rarely sitting around waiting for inspiration, I do put off writing because I have this weird feeling of shame – like I’m playing Writer Dress-Up and someone is going to walk in on me and laugh. It’s good to be reminded that it is work and so long as you are working at it, you deserve to call yourself a writer.
The most practical and useful book in terms of planning was the Ready, Set, Novel ! Writer’s Workbook which gives prompts and step by step activities to help you start to outline a novel. For a newbie like me who is not really expecting to write for anything other than my own benefit (although I always hear a tiny, distant whisper of ‘Who knows..?’ whenever I think that), it was just what I needed to get started and I have since made a start on my (perhaps over-ambitious) First Novel. I’m only 2000-odd words in but it’s a start and I really need to get that habit of daily writing underway (not just here!) so that I can make some progress.
Notes From My Day 