No, we didn’t just make up a new word. NaNoWriMo, or national novel writing month, is a program that encourages writers to do what they love: write! Dedicating the time to writing 1,667 words every day in November can add up to a 50,000-word draft in the end. Don’t believe us? Some popular works, such as The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen, started as Nanowrimo projects! Today marks the official halfway point for the process, so maybe you’ve run into a wall, need a little more inspiration, or simply just want some pointers on writing. Either way, check out some books we have on writing!
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said. ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'”
With this basic instruction always in mind, Anne Lamott returns to offer us a new gift: a step-by-step guide on how to write and on how to manage the writer’s life. From “Getting Started,’ with “Short Assignments,” through “Shitty First Drafts,” “Character,” “Plot,” “Dialogue.” all the way from “False Starts” to “How Do You Know When You’re Done?” Lamott encourages, instructs, and inspires. She discusses “Writers Block,” “Writing Groups,” and “Publication.” Bracingly honest, she is also one of the funniest people alive.
If you have ever wondered what it takes to be a writer, what it means to be a writer, what the contents of your school lunches said about what your parents were really like, this book is for you. From faith, love, and grace to pain, jealousy, and fear, Lamott insists that you keep your eyes open, and then shows you how to survive. And always, from the life of the artist, she turns to the art of life.”
Hope in the Mail: Reflections on Writing and Life
“Part writing guide and part memoir, this inspiring book from the author of Flipped and The Running Dream is like Bird by Bird for YA readers and writers.
Wendelin Van Draanen didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer, but thirty books later, she’s convinced that writing saved her life. Or, at least, saved her from a life of bitterness and despair. Writing helped her sort out what she thought and felt and wanted. And digging deep into fictional characters helped her understand the real people in her life better as well.
Wendelin shares what she’s learned–about writing, life, and what it takes to live the writing life. This book is packed with practical advice on the craft: about how to create characters and plot a story that’s exciting to read. But maybe even more helpful is the insight she provides into the persistence, and perseverance, it takes to live a productive, creative life. And she answers the age-old question Where do you get your ideas? by revealing how events in her own life became the seeds of her best-loved novels.
Hope in the Mail is a wildly inspirational read for anyone with a story to share.”
Surviving 30 Days of Literary Madness
“Each November, writers around the world throw sanity to the winds and challenge themselves to write 50,000 words during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), sweating and stressing for 30 days. “Surviving 30 Days of Literary Madness” is a daybook of support, encouragement and the occasional kick in the pants to help make the stress more bearable and keep your eyes focused on your goal.
For every day of the madness, there is a quote and essay designed to help keep you going at the keyboard, along with pieces about preparation and the noveling hangover that comes in December. There are also pages for those other moments, when you’ve fallen slightly behind — or you realize this may not be a year you cross the finish line. No matter how your November novel experience is going, this book will be a companion for each day.”
Wired for Story: the Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence
“Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets–and it’s a game-changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper. The vast majority of writing advice focuses on writing well as if it were the same as telling a great story.
This is exactly where many aspiring writers fail–they strive for beautiful metaphors, authentic dialogue, and interesting characters, losing sight of the one thing that every engaging story must do: ignite the brain’s hardwired desire to learn what happens next. When writers tap into the evolutionary purpose of story and electrify our curiosity, it triggers a delicious dopamine rush that tells us to pay attention. Without it, even the most perfect prose won’t hold anyone’s interest.
Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as examples from novels, screenplays, and short stories, Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it. Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, its corresponding revelation about story, and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now.”
The Writer’s Home Companion
“Writing is a solitary sport—but none of us can do it without good company at crucial moments. This spirited collection of inspiring and useful essays and exercises on the craft of writing is the next best thing to having an experienced writer at your side. These twenty-nine pieces, more than half of which have never been published in book form, include selections as unusual and diverse as behaviorist B. F. Skinner’s “How to Discover What You Have to Say”; Brett Candlish Millier’s investigation of the seventeen drafts of Elizabeth Bishop’s poem “One Art”; Ursula Le Guin’s “Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?”; Anne Eisenberg’s “E-Mail and the New Epistolary Age”; and Nancy Mair’s “The Writer’s Thin Skin and Faint Heart.” Other contributors include Gloria Naylor, Stanley Kunitz, Bernard Shaw, Natalie Goldberg, Anne Tyler, Rita Dove, Peter Elbow, and Gail Godwin.”