The best books that helped shape me as a writer

This book sparked my imagination. I loved the fantasy element that delivered amazing experiences to five ordinary children, and many years later when it came to writing my own novels for young readers, I found myself writing my own quirky adventures where remarkable things happen in a world that otherwise appears to be as we know it.  

I came across Anne Frank’s diary when I was a little younger than she was when she began writing it. It had a powerful impact on me because it was a true story that offered an insight into the heart and mind of a girl close to my own age who had not survived the Holocaust. It showed me that personal experiences written in an authentic voice are an important part of our storytelling culture. They have the power to change readers’ thinking and develop empathy. Like Anne, I wanted to become a published author, but at the time I had no idea so much of my writing life would be spent focusing on fact rather than fiction.

My high school English teacher introduced me to the work of science fiction writer John Wyndham when I was in my mid-teens and I promptly read every title by this author and found a new favourite genre. Along with encouraging me to read outside my usual choices, this teacher gave me some invaluable writing advice after I handed in a short story: "Continue to write in this light-hearted vein and you will do well." Unfortunately, it took me a while to follow it and I spent quite a few years trying unsuccessfully to write serious literary fiction.

Natalie Goldberg is an internationally acclaimed teacher of writing and Zen practice and her autobiography Long Quiet Highway resonated deeply with me. I’ve considered myself a spiritual seeker since the age of 13 and knew from much earlier that writing is an intrinsic part of my creative expression. Yet I had never considered these two important aspects of my life together. After I read this book, my workshop presentations for adults took a different direction where I was no longer teaching what I knew but sharing a learning experience together. 

My daughter lent me this book at a time when I was in a creative slump. For years I had been earning my living writing for newspapers and magazines and publishing books, poems, and stories for children. Suddenly I felt I had nothing more to say, that my writing life might be over. I didn’t know who I was if I wasn’t a writer. Cameron’s book offered a different perspective on creativity. I began to follow her program without any real expectation of results. Soon after beginning to produce the daily handwritten morning pages and explore the thoughts and feelings I had around writing, something shifted in me. The ideas and words began to flow again. Would I have continued to write without it? I don’t know. I do know the program is effective and have continued to add further Julia Cameron titles to my bookcase.