3 Books to Help Your Writing

Like most aspiring authors, there are a few things that I really struggled with in my journey to writing my first novel: self-doubt, not having a clue where to start, and having a full-time job that consumed a lot of my energy and time. These three books really helped me overcome these barriers to get my first novel finished, and so I thought I would share them with you in case you find yourself in the same position.

1. THE CREATIVE ACT: A WAY OF BEING by Rick Rubin

Self-doubt is an occupational hazard for any creative. From doubting you can really do it, to doubting it will be relevant and interesting to anyone else but you, the journey of writing a novel, poem, or creating art of any type for that matter, is riddled with insecurities and question marks over your talent. Every creative at some point wonders how they're going to make it work, or rather "they should've kept the day job". And you won't be short of people telling you the latter.

How many "good ideas" have you had and didn't act on, then a while later saw somebody else doing it? Have you ever heard the saying, "everyone has ideas, but only successful people act on them"?

Well... That's Rick Rubin's approach. He sees creativity as a calling. You have been called to bring a creative idea into being. The desire to do it has been planted in you. You're a vessel to a message that will come into existence either through you or someone else. Because everything has it's time and, if it's the time for that creative work to come into being, you could be its vessel, or you can opt for letting it come through someone else. He also argues that we are all born creative, it's modern living that beats it out of us.

When I think over things, I can see signs everywhere that led to or helped my love of writing. From my dad insisting that I learn how to type properly when he bought our first computer, to the people I bumped into and the advice they gave me. And I'm willing to bet that you'll find that in your life things have pointed you to this moment of writing too.

In this book, he talks about how to let ideas flow through you, how to stay connected in order to be creative, and how to deal with pressure and everyday slams as a creative. It really changed my perspective on rather or not "I can write".

Favourite quotes from this book:

"Look for what you notice but no one else sees."

"Talent is the ability to let ideas manifest themselves through you."

"Taking a wrong turn allows you to see landscapes your wouldn't otherwise have seen."

2. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WRITE by Nadine Hill

If like me, you have a family and a full-time job, sometimes it's hard to find that couple of hours in your schedule to make time for writing. And when you do, you feel guilty because the house won't clean itself and someone is waiting to have your attention, if not a partner or child, the dog or cat.

I Don't Have Time to Write really helped me organize my mind and create time in my schedule to prioritize writing - something I love and really want to do, but have really struggled to find time to get done. It really helped me to understand what is important to me and how much I should prioritize it.

You can read my full review of this one here.

Favourite quotes from this book:

"Being productive is as much about eliminating the deadwood as it is about doing more."

"When we are following our dreams, the time we spend doing it is time we are investing in ourselves."

"Little and often. Do a bit each day to get nearer to your goal. Every brick you lay will eventually become a house."

3. WRITERS' & ARTISTS' YEARBOOK

Like any industry, writing and publishing have their quirks. And when you didn't grow up loving literature, reading it at uni, or working in the publishing world, it's hard to know where to start.

From understanding what everyone does to who is who, the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook is an amazing tool. Blessed is the person who came up with the idea to put it together.

Think about it as your reference book, an A to Z of the publishing world. It doesn't matter if you're a journalist, poet, novelist or illustrator. This industry Bible is where you can read all the tea and learn the ropes. From taxes to who to contact.

This book really helped me gain an understanding of how the industry works and what resources I should tap into to make my dream a reality.

So there you have it. The three books that helped me transform my dream of writing a novel into a 93,000+ piece of work. And, in the spirit of manifesting it into being, I can't wait for the time I come here and tell you all it's about to be published. 😊