The most recommended books about writer's block

This charming, deeply romantic tale about an editor whose big promotion is contingent on her helping a popular author overcome a terrible case of writer’s block reminded me of all the reasons I adore reading and writing love stories.

Working with this author leads Lanie to question her long-cherished beliefs about what she wants (and needs) in a romantic partner. She opens her heart to new ideas and experiences as well as to love, and her journey, both personally and professionally, culminates in such an epically swoon-inducing way that you will be hard-pressed not to shed happy tears (I did!).

Like the book’s heroine, Lauren Kate clearly reveres the written word, and this story is a beautifully composed valentine to all bibliophiles.

We’re writers before we’re anything else, and over the years I’ve learned from many how-to-write books. I’ll give two recommendations here: One: William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. Justifiably a classic. I’ve gone back to it often and assigned it in writing classes. If you haven’t yet read it, you must. Two: anything by Gary Provost, someone you’ve probably never heard of, but whose books on writing, all of them, give pungent, smart advice on how to write anything better. Brevity, euphony, clarity, surprise, and lots of other elements combine to create prose worth reading. Provost shows us how.

As with most King novels, this book is more horror than romance. But the haunting at the main character’s house on Dark Score Lake sent shivers up my spine in a way not many novels have. 

The premise of the ghost mystery has a thrilling twist, and without giving away spoilers, it inspired me to create barriers to communication between the living and the dead in my own novels. After all, it doesn’t make much sense for a spirit to just simply drop hints until the mystery is solved.

If there were that easy, any fictional (or real!) ghost could simply convey what it needs or wants with no struggle. A loophole like this that I noticed in a scary movie actually sparked the idea for my first novel. In the movie, the haunting presence could write out cryptic clues…which led me to wonder why it didn’t just write out… show more.

When I read this book, I felt as though I’d come home somehow. Goldberg has such a natural, conversational voice while sharing life-changing truths. She shared in a way that embodied her message and I realized I wanted to do that with my calling. While writing about writing, she is also offering instruction that is valuable for anyone who wants to work on any art, craft, or business. Using her years of Zen meditation as a backdrop, she instructs the reader on going beyond self-judgment, training yourself to be excellent, and staying present. It’s a powerful book for anyone who wants to use writing to uncover their truth, and for anyone who wants to dive into practice of any kind, and not get their identity wrapped up in the outcome.

A Soprano on Her Head was inspired by W. Timothy Galley’s Inner Game of Tennis book, applying these principles to musical performance and creativity. It is a wonderful anecdotal collection of delightful experiences in playing any instrument, dancing, or singing with the inner freedom that all artists long for. The book is as much about learning from your own experience, the creative process, and harnessing these tools as they could apply to music performance, teaching, and learning. She explores nervous energy and stress through insight and common sense. Her stories make an effortless and delightful read filled with applicable knowledge and skills for daily living. 

As with Madeleine L’Engle, everything I’ve read by Ursula K. Le Guin—fiction as well as nonfiction—has radically influenced my writing and my teaching of writing. In fact, her impact on my creative awakening was so profound that I sent her a copy of my first book as a thank you! Steering the Craft is filled with wisdom and exercises for both new and seasoned writers, but perhaps the most liberating for blocked writers is her controversial view that “story” is defined by “change” not “conflict.” That’s especially welcoming for writers who feel hemmed in (and, perhaps, blocked) by the traditional definition.

I’m a world-class procrastinator. Some might say I’m high-functioning, in the sense that I manage to accomplish quite a lot of work, just not always on the projects I say are important to me.

Pressfield’s book has become a classic for those of us who work in creative fields. I’d heard about it for years, but never took the leap until recently. It’s very powerful, a little like having a very tough coach breathing down your neck, pushing you to do better.

Pressfield boils the creative person’s problem down to one thing—resistance—which I now regard as a dark force within us all that sentences us to ordinary life. Why chase your dreams of being an artist when it’s safer not to try? Why bother going to the gym? Why waste time meditating? Why lift a finger to do any of the things that you think will enrich your life when… show more.

Now that you’re acclimated to the s-e-x, you’re going to chuckle at how silly you were, thinking there was some massive divide between Books of Literary Merit and Books That Make You Happy. In fact, that’s actually the plot of the novel itself: a Literary author and a Women’s Fiction author challenge each other to write a book in the other’s category and sparks fly. A deliciously meta romp of, yes, impeccable literary merit.

While not exactly a light read – it contains adult explorations of trauma and violence – Purcell’s writing is drum-tight and entirely absorbing.

This book broke my months-long reading slump and writer's block, reminding me that all it takes to fall in love with stories again is one really, really good one. I’m not much of an annotator, but the pages of my copy are splattered with pen, most often exclamation marks and underlines and obscene exclamations of enthusiasm and grief.

Split between multiple perspectives, locations, and decades, The Lessons is a heart-wrenching romance without fluff, tropes, and suspended disbeliefs. A story of expectations and disappointments, promises and betrayals, it’s full of sharp observations about writing and writers, social constructs, and human behaviour.

I devoured it in days, and can’t wait to forget all the details so I can come back to it and fall in love all over… show more.

Adventure awaits when an inkblot from one of Ethan’s dad’s sketches comes to life and leaps off the page. Sydney Smith’s inky illustrations add to the fun of this fast-paced and funny story about friendship and family. And because Inkling loves to read/eat up ink, and he takes on the mood of whatever text he’s just devoured, it’s also a cool and clever introduction for kids to some classics and to different genres of writing. 

What’s more, the book ends on a note that suggests a sequel that I can’t wait to read!

Of all the creative self-help books out there, Twyla Tharp’s perspective stands out as one fueled by awareness and curiosity rather than grit and force.

For me, this gentler, more curious cultivation of creativity has proved sustaining as opposed to the conventional wisdom that suggests life must be pushed away or overcome to create. As a choreographer and dancer, her wisdom on building a life of creative expression is broad and encompassing, focusing on how one interacts with the world rather than the products one creates.

The inspiration in this book is followed up with practices that have changed the way I approach seeing the world, focusing my thoughts, and allowing the creative process to transport me to surprising places.

As an author, Stephen King's book was a great inspiration to me.

In the first part of the book, I learned the author's biography. Like all great authors who build an empire, he had to build it through perseverance, failures, and setbacks. This is at least the fifth time I've read this book, and I can't wait to read it again, especially the second part, which he calls "The Toolbox".

After explaining the road to his success, Stephen King talks about writing and the tricks of the writer's journey. This giant describes himself as the first reader of his stories. He has his own way of creating a story and letting his characters live in it by giving them the freedom to live as they please, to the delight of his readers.

Do not come to this book in search of warm hugs about the beauty of the process. True to the title, Klinkenborg (best name ever?) offsets each of his sentences like an epic poem in verse. The epic he describes is how epically bad your writing is, and—hopefully—how to improve. He returns to the word "notice" over and over, and that's really it. You're blowing sentences by not noticing what the sentence itself is doing. You're over-emphasizing "meaning" at the expense of the vehicle that delivers it. I sense there's a kind man in there, somewhere, who's working a side of the street he feels has been neglected by years of misguided education. But here, he's dedicated to the larger cause of clean, clear sentences. Not hugs.

For all the writers out there, this picture book is an exploration of the “unspeakable horror of the literary life.”

Edward Gorey, in his signature macabre manner, conveys the unconveyable as he takes us through this deceptively insightful story of an author’s journey from the first page, revisions, and finally publication…leaving us to wonder what exactly it is that draws us authors to the lonely aching, hallucinations, and general ennui of the writing life…but loving it all the way!

This was Edward Gorey’s first published book and has his signature pen and ink illustrations in all of their listless glory. A hilarious and relatable read!

In The Practice, Godin successfully does that “thing,” that he is so uniquely good at: sharing wisdom with panache and joy, not condescension or cliché. He artfully argues for the creative to better empathize with their audience, and in doing so, create better art. Since, creativity is nothing without impact.

Anne is the first one to tell you that writing is hard. And often, what you write as a first draft is terrible…and an essential step.

She helps take away the overwhelm by having you focus on one step at a time. It’s a lot easier to write knowing improving your work is part of the journey…vs expecting perfection at the onset. This is the essential writing book for new and experienced writers.

Each time I read it, I remind myself of something new and explore a new angle in my writing practice. This is a must-have for the creative person’s shelf.

I’ve read a lot of books on creativity, and this one stands out for its more scientific and historical approach.

No surprise; it’s written by the NYT’s Science Reporter, and it comes with the sources, case studies, and expert insights you’d expect from someone who works for the country’s newspaper of record. It covered some of the biological and evolutionary support for creativity, which was something I haven’t seen much of elsewhere; and since biological writers are up against the mechanized ones, this will help you see your key advantages.

The audiobook was over 11 hours long, but it didn’t feel like it, and I found myself sitting in the car to continue listening after I’d arrived at my destination more than once. 

I was in my mid-thirties in the midst of a spiritual and creative awakening when I discovered Madeleine L’Engle’s classic young adult fantasy, A Wrinkle in Time, and from that moment I was hooked on her writings—nonfiction as well as fiction. I suppose I could have chosen any of L’Engle’s books to recommend here, as I have read and been inspired by all of them. Yet Walking on Water seemed most appropriate because it addresses the connection between spirituality and creativity more directly than any of her other books, and it was that connection that helped unblock my longstanding creative blocks. 

There’s nothing in Letters to a Young Poet about craft, writer’s block, or any of the recognizable challenges faced by twenty-first-century writers. Yet this slender volume published more than a century ago speaks to writers everywhere and in every era, who so often work in isolation and, if they are to be true to their art and authentic within themselves, must rip open their souls and spill the contents onto the page without regard for others’ judgment and criticism. In fact, it speaks to anyone, non-writer as well as writer, whose sensitivity and feelings of not belonging make it sometimes feel impossible to express themselves out in the world. In the end, isn’t that what writer’s block is all about. It certainly was for me!

Michelle Kulp is a real pro. She works with authors on many levels to help them write and promote their books.  She wrote 12 books in 12 consecutive months thereby creating $3,000 a month in passive income. Not bad eh?

By learning what not to do, authors will have greater success publishing books and making a real living with their writing.