Inspiration, Invigoration & A Book Giveaway
Are you feeling lucky? The Great Books lists continue, and as an added bonus we've got a book giveaway. (Keep reading. Reward at end!)
To give my sluggy self a much-needed nudge, I'm always game for a self-help book. It's even better if I get a shove in the writing rear. In this spirit, I offer a longish list of my favorite stop-whining-and-get-writing books.
For Writers
Books that inspire, encourage, educate & motivate:
Every Writer Has A Thousand Faces - by David Biespiel
Writing Down the Bones - by Natalie Goldberg
On Writing - by Stephen King
Bird by Bird - by Anne Lamott
Journal of a Solitude - by May Sarton
The Forest for the Trees - by Betsy Lerner
The Practice of Poetry - by Robin Behn & Chase Twichell
Poemcrazy - by Susan G. Wooldridge
Poetry Everywhere - by Jack Collom & Sheryl Noethe
Now that we're pepped up and ready to write, let's press on! I'm giving away two great books. Win one of these and you'll be armed with information, motivation and verve:
How to Make A Living As A Poet
- by Gary Glazner
101 Ways to Make Poems Sell: A Guide to Getting and Staying Published
- by Chris Hamilton-Emery
Winning is simple. Just leave your name in the comment section below. If you like, tell me the book that gets you inspired to write. On Monday, January 16, 2012, I'll choose two names in a random drawing. You could be a winner. It's that easy!
Feeling shy? Zip me a private email — dcm@drewmyron.com — that says I want to win.
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 4:58PM
Reader Comments (17)
Dear Drew, poem crazy is what I am. If I don't win a book I'll just die!!!!!!! Sincerely yours, Gisèle
Gisele-
I like your enthusiasm.
May the random drawing angels shine upon your name.
What has seen me in good stead for years, and never fails to make me find a reason to write, a good dictionary. Mix with bluegrass music, full sunlight, a cat drapped over my shoulders and the sounds of the love of my life flipping channels, and something will be written. Nonsense, babble, word music...
Happy New Year Drew!
Love your muses, M.E. And the dictionary, what a trove!
Thanks for stopping by.
As a brand new (as of today!) literary press, (Marcanti Clarke Literary Press) I'm excited for your contest and expect the perfect deserving person to win. Let the Poetry commence!
Congratulations, Auburn!
May you be swamped with stellar manuscripts.
OK. I'm in to win!
Thanks, Drew!
Every full life must have a great, unrequited love. My one-that-got-away and I had a ten-ish year correspondence across 2500 miles. His first letter, in the fall of 1988, described the particular smell of burning dust that comes when the heater is started for the first time in the fall. So simple a thing, but I’d never read a personal note with that kind of detail. Other letters detailed the hush of biking over wet leaves on the wooded path he’d take to work, or had bubbling beakers scribbled in the margins of a letter written on the back of chemistry class notes. I still feel the brief, painful letter telling of his beloved dog Brady being hit by a car, and how he cradled the almost-dead dog in his arms and cried. Over time my letters began to include more than banal basics, inspired by his delicious slices of Ohio life. In one letter he told me I was a good writer—the first time I’d ever been told that. No question that is the reason I still write today. I come across his letters every few years while in deep cleaning mode, and seeing the hand-written return address takes me back to that first feeling of being moved by someone’s writing, to the point of picking up pen and paper.
2012 and we’re still in contact, with occasional e-mails, Facebook notes, or every-few-months Skype chats, but what I wouldn’t give to see an envelope in my mailbox with his familiar script in the top corner.
(Not a book, but inspiration nonetheless.)
Two books I've used (I have a love/hate relationship with both of them, for reasons I haven't investigated) are: In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowit and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Poem by Wendy Bishop. Sign me up for your giveaway, please!
Cathy -
You've written a moving tribute to the letter. What a beautiful exchange.
I've felt a similar want and pull from words, handwritten, on paper. My first letter "relationship" was with my grandparents, when I was 6 years old. I would dictate a letter to my mother, who would then have me copy her written words. It was the start of a lifelong exchange, and my writing life.
Anne Carson writes: "To say what letters contain is impossible . . . In a letter both reader and writer discover an ideal image of themselves, short blinding passages are all it takes."
Thank you Cathy. I think I'll go write a letter.
OH Molly, I've felt that love/hate, push/pull with writing books, too. Resistance? Overwhelmed? I'm not sure what it is for me.
Steve Kowit's book is good and thick, and it's where I discovered one of my favorite poems: "God Says Yes To Me" by Kaylin Haught.
I've heard raves for the Bishop book, but have not read it. Thanks for the suggestion.
I've always loved Ted Kooser's Poetry Home Repair Manual. The advice is great, and I just adore the title.
Oh, I like that title, too -- so approachable.
I'll add it to my (growing) list. Thanks Allyson.
I got to Charles Wright quite often or Oleana K. - they work best for me but I have no idea why. Perhaps lines that are always strong - syntax that surprises.
Thanks for doing this!
Susan -
Excellent point -- the work of other writers is always a great jumpstart for me, too. Thanks for dropping in.
My Name is Wendye Savage. I am a poet and author. Poetry is a passion for me.. I am truly excited about this opportunity ....
Thanks for dropping by Wendye. I'll draw the winning names later today. Stay tuned.