When I went begging on facebook for blog post ideas, my dear
friend Mel bravely proposed a reading list of books I recommended for writers.
Obviously this list could be many pages long, but having too many options tends
to lead to inaction. I’d prefer to just give you a small handful of really good
ones that you might actually chase up.
First of all, let me preface this by saying I think writers
should read all the books on how to write, how to get published, how to market,
how to self publish, sociology and psychology they can get their hands on.
However, as all these areas are developing at a mind-boggling pace, I suggest
you focus on the ones published in the past 5 years.
I also recommend starting with the people you respect, who
have vibrant careers, because there is also a lot of misinformation out there.
However the more you read, the more you can compare different ideas, theories
and tactics. Yes, you end up reading a lot of the same stuff phrased slightly
differently. It’s worth it, in my opinion, to actually feel confident about the
subject.
That said, here are my very top resources that I regularly
refer to:
- On Writing –
Stephen King
A classic and one I have re-read dozens of times. He gives
fantastic stylistic advice, though I don’t support all of his beliefs RE:
talent. A great ‘where to start’ guide when it comes to improving your style.
- Breakout Novelist –
Donald Maass
Some of the information in this one is outdated now, and
Donald writes very much from the perspective of an agent, when agents were
critical to publishing and the literary process. Lots of good advice, but
remember when and who it’s coming from.
- Million Dollar
Outlines – David Farland
Just keep reading it every single month of your life until
you can repeat the whole thing verbatim. Probably more of an intermediate read,
rather than for beginners, but there is no one who couldn’t benefit from reading
this book.
- 2k to 10k – Rachel Aaron
Short and a little disjointed, as its made up from a heap of
blog posts, but an interesting method to try if you want to vastly increase
your word count. For best results, commit to doing it 100% her way for a month.
- Make a Killing on
Kindle – Michael Alvear
This book comes across as really sleazy, however the advice
for marketing and optimising sales on Amazon is practical and effective. You do
feel oddly like you are being scammed by a telemarketer while reading it
though, which is a shame.
- Happiness by Design
– Paul Dolan
A lot of you are already planning to skip this one, because it’s
not about writing. Maybe you think you’re already happy, or maybe you hate self
help books. However this isn’t a self help book, nor is it promising to make
you happy if you read it. This is one of those sociology/psychology books I was
talking about, which aims to teach you to understand
happiness.
Contrary to the ‘tortured artist’ trope, it’s virtually
impossible to have a career as an author if you are unhappy. Those romanticised
tortured artists? Most of them only produced a handful of works in their time
and fewer still made enough money to survive off those works. To have a career,
you need to produce work quickly and confidently. Being stressed, depressed, anxious
or overly dramatic makes that very unlikely.
I consider my physical and mental health to be about 50% of
my production. The rest is discipline and planning. So I consider understanding
happiness to be AT LEAST a quarter of my work. To make up the other 25% of that
equation, I also recommend:
- The CSIRO Total
Wellbeing Diet – CSIRO
Which lists the foods, portions and exercises you should do
to maintain optimum health. Not to lose weight, not to feel good, not to look
amazing, just to be the healthiest you can be. There are also five recipe
books, so you can never, ever possibly be bored with the options. Because my
diet is stupid limited, and I like to cut out unnecessary decision making, I
just have 2-3 lunches and 2-3 dinners I eat every day that meet the dietary
requirements outlined.
Don’t think of happiness and health as being part of a separate
system to writing. Happiness, health and
writing are all brain things and as
much as we think of ourselves as being more than a lump of meat, the brain is
an organic organ, literally just meat tissue, and it is bound by the same
physical limits as, say, your lungs and colon. Since we’re on the topic, it’s
worth noting, any deprivation of calories, is going to mean energy is
redirected to critical systems like running the heart and muscles, so you will
have less thinking energy. Diets are bad for writing. Empty calories in junk
food are even worse for writing. EAT HEALTHY. (Literally just had soda and
chocolate for breakfast. Do as I say, etc)
I’d also like to list about 8000 psychology and sociology
books, but they can be tricky to track down. So instead, just go to your local
library and read everything they have, starting with the newest titles. Also buy
copies of The Man Who Mistook His Wife
for a Hat – Oliver Sacks & The
Naked Ape – Desmond Morris because everyone should own those two, despite
their age.
In a few more weeks, I’ll be getting back to my character
series. Then I may do an extended series on productivity. However, before then,
is there any one-off topics you would like me to cover on the blog? Hit me up
on facebook or post a comment here with suggestions.
