Things I've Read, Dec 2014: Best Presents for Writers
Dear reader,
Gosh, this is hard.
I own a lot of books about writing. I own twenty-two books about writing, which is a little embarrassing, especially since that excludes books about general creativity and art (like Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit which is wonderful and you should buy or The War of Art which is vital for anyone who finds writing had) and reference books like dictionaries (and Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable which is wonderful and you should ask for as a present).
So, I've, er, narrowed it down to five and a half? That still seems like a lot.
But I'll start with the one that everyone mentions, and everyone probably has: Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Despite the occasional article that tries to critique it and misses the point entirely, it's still essential for a writer. I refer to it less than I used to, because a lot of it lines my insides so thoroughly, but I try and read the last chapter, 'An Approach to Style' every year. It sharpens you like a whetstone. (Also see Style: Towards Clarity and Grace which is the book that has taught me most about what good writing is.)
For extra style points, buy Elements of Style in the beautiful and whimsically illustrated Maira Kalman edition.
Maira Kalman also features in On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz. In some ways, it's the least directly writing-related book here. It's a book about Horowitz taking a walk around the city block with various experts: a geologist, a typographer, the aforementioned Kalman. And she describes how she tries to see the journey through each of their eyes, and how the journey becomes transmuted by each of their predilections. Her writing is full of such perfect craft and clarity, and writing is everything to do with learning to notice from different points of view ... well, in lots of ways, this book is everything to do with writing.
I think that phrase "learning to notice" is from Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. It's a book that usually features in these lists, and for good reason: it's not one of my favourite writing books, it's one of my favourite books. Lamott is wise about writing, but more importantly, she's wise about life, which lets her place writing in its right place: writing is at the same time, one of the most important things we can do, and, in the context of life, not that important at all. Don't get me wrong, it's full of great writing advice, and is by turns, funny, fun, and sharp. But she also understands that writing is too important to take seriously all of the time. It's wonderful, and you should buy it.
On the more practical side is Ron Carlson Writes a Story by Ron Carlson. This is an odd little book, and I don't know anything quite like it. In it, Carlson commentates on the act of writing his own short story, as he writes it. That sentence makes it sound a bit pretentious or meta or something, but it's not like that. It's more that he's shining a window into his creative process, the good and the bad. Writing is such a solitary feeling, that it can feel like everyone else is actually just going to a story vending machine somewhere, and no one's told you where it is. Shining a light on the craft and graft of the process is always a good thing, and this book does it well.
Finally in terms of books, The Gift by Lewis Hyde is the most academic of all of these. But it's also the one that I refer to the most in conversations about art and creativity and writing and what it means to get paid for any of those things. It's at the same time a defense of what creativity is, and what it means for gifts of art to go out into the world. Margaret Atwood calls it no less than "a masterpiece", and when has she ever been wrong? (Although I read The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, which is an easier read of a similar argument - she even quotes Hyde at several points, so maybe you should just read both.)
Speaking of gifts (and as a reward for actually reading this thing), I thought it might be fun to run a teeny ebook-based secret santa. If you'd like to give, and receive an ebook in the coming days, sign up o'er here. All responses, of course, will only be seen by me, and I'll only use them to help moderate who gets and gives what to who.
Lastly, have a wonderful Christmas. Hope you get many many good things to read and reasons to read them.
Yours,
Guan