“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” – Ernest Hemingway
Books and films to help you get inspired, break through your creative roadblocks, and figure out what to do when you’re done writing:
Getting Started…
No Plot? No Problem!
by Chris Baty
A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days. Written by NANOWRIMO’s founder, this is a great how-to guide for participating, with insights and tricks from both professional authors and successful participants. Also includes tips for the practicalities involved in surviving a month of novel writing.
Writing Down The Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
by Natalie Goldberg
Aimed at new and aspiring writers, to help make writing a regular habit. Goldberg’s insights and tips are also helpful to anyone seeking to write more, for whatever reasons.
How Fiction Works
by James Woods
Meta-analysis of how fiction and stories work. While an essential text for anyone interested in the mechanics of fiction works, its points are not broken down into easy to read chunks like most “how to” books.
Working Through the Problems…
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Steven King
King’s two part meditation on the craft of writing – the first section recalls his career as a writer, the second contains a meditation into the craft of writing. Offers invaluable insights into the craft of writing.
Help! For Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces
by Roy Peter Clark
Help! For Writers contains 210 solutions to problems writers can encounter. While the entries are shallower then Clark’s other books, the book’s 210 solutions can help writers get over nearly any roadblock in their creative process.
An Angel At My Table
DVD [2005]
Having a hard time writing? Re-kindle your inspiration with the true-life story of Janet Frame, New Zealand’s most distinguished author. The film follows Frame from a poverty-stricken childhood to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia and electroshock therapy to, finally, literary fame.
You’ve got 50,000 Words – Now What?
The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself
by Susan Bell
Long-time editor Susan Bell shares her tips and systems to help with editing your own work.
The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing
by Marlyn Ross and Sue Collier
Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell your Own Book” Includes information on various types of self-publishing (including e-books), how to get your book to market yourself, and promote it once it’s for sale.
Writers Market 2012
by Writers Digest
Writers Market is the essential reference book covering America’s publishing industry. Writers Market contains multitudes of information about the book business in the United States, including agent and publisher information, and is an authoritative guide to publishing through traditional channels.
DVD [2006]
Ready for a break? Kick back with Kay Effiel, an author writing her latest novel about an isolated IRS agent. Except her protagonist turns out to be a real person, who suddenly starts to hear Kay narrating his life – inside his head.
