What’s Better to Write about than Writing?

I’m obsessed.

It’s very meta I know. But writing about writing just flows around my brain like an ocean wave around a rock on the beach. Whoosh. So calming.

But is that all? Does it do no more than comfort my aching brain with water massages?

I don’t think so.

Before I tell you why, I want to give you a good idea of where I’m coming from, and in order to do that you need to know the books I have read on writing. So…

Here is a comprehensive list of the writing books I have read or partially read:

Books That I Own

Books I put in bold and italicized are my favorite. All the rest are recommended too — I don’t keep books I have read unless I like them. Books with a ~ in front are debatably not exactly about writing, but I’m including them anyway. Note: order is not important.

Have Read:

1. The Art of Fiction
2. If You Want to Write
3. Write Up a Storm with the Polk Street School (formed my childhood)
4. Aspects of the Novel
5. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasty
6. The Writing Life
7. The Elements of Style (original — just Strunk)
8. ~A Room of One’s Own

To Read/Partially Read:

1. On Writing
2. Zen and the Art of Writing
3. On Moral Fiction
4. Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction
5. Steering the Craft
6. ~The Wave in the Mind

Books that I do not own:

Have Read:

1. Bird by Bird (Not sure why I don’t own this…)

Partially Read:

1. No Plot? No Problem! (Do not recommend.)
2. ~The Creative Habit (Fun, but you can skip it.)

And… my wish list for completeness:

1. How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One
2. ~MFA vs. NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction
3. Letters to a Young Poet

Now I will probably write reviews of each book in due time, and eventually I’ll link to a permanent url here — “my list” — of the current list at all times, but that is not the reason I began writing this blog post today. This is a post about “writing” books.

I want to talk about their power.

Some are written spiritually (as much as I hate to use that word), and some are written clinically. All seek to remind the reader that writing is a combination of insight and skill, both of which can be cultivated by constant unfaltering practice.

But what do I mean by power?

First, there’s the power of practice. I grew up playing cello, and pretty seriously at that, so I thought I knew the power of practice. I would practice at least 2 hours a day when I was at my peak (which is nothing compared to professionals). But I was fortunate to be somewhat naturally talented, so “endurance” was relatively easy. Then I tried writing. I thought I was naturally talented. But soon professors and family and friends all said, in their very different ways, that something was missing. And only about two months ago did I really accept that. It was very hard to get to that place. I need to write as much as I can. And when I lose steam I read about writing as much as I can, and this drives me to write more. But I could have never come to this conclusion had I not read books about writing.

I will go further than that. I would not have finally accepted this truth had I not read NINE really good books on writing. NINE. That’s how much it took. Even with reading, quantity is just as important as quality.

Secondly, there’s the power of inspiration. I’ve already hinted at this. I’ve mentioned “spiritual” writing and books “driving” me to write more.

There are lots of books of all topics meant to inspire. Perhaps with books about writing I am biased since my primary identity is being a writer. But here’s what I think they have to offer that the other books don’t: the combination of self-referencing and expression. I’ll explain what I mean:

a) The self-referential quality allows for more insight how we think, because we are more self conscious of what how we are thinking. At least I think so. The more meta the experience, the more enhanced and focused I personally feel. I feel there are less distractions, when I don’t have to think of multiple topics at once. With books about writing I only think of two things: reading and writing. Mostly writing.

b) Self-referential material combined with the main topic being expression of thought, and in written form, really speaks to the core of what we need: to assert our existence and importance in the greater scheme of things.

Okay I think that’s enough writing for now. This has been a post writing about writing about writing. I hope you enjoyed!