I know I’m in trouble when I can’t even remember the last good book I read. Really, it almost sends me into a panic. Don’t get me wrong, I read constantly. But usually it’s an article in Business Week or a business-related book. I get so caught up with trying to stay current on what’s going on in the industry that I forget to put the fuel in my tank that actually helps get the job done. And there’s a big difference between reading for information and reading for inspiration. The two rarely accomplish the same goal.
I tend to think of writing in a few different contexts. Sometimes it’s a natural process. Other times it’s more of a phenomenon. And all too often, writing is just a bitch. Plain and simple. Hemingway called a blank page the white bull. He was a wise man.
I can absolutely relate how good I feel about my work to how much or how little I’ve read recently that inspires me. If I’m in the middle of a book I love, then writing is the most natural thing in the world. If it’s been a while since I finished a book, I can’t even write out a lineup card for a softball game.
So the point is, if you’re trying to motivate yourself to write, start reading. You don’t have to play directly off another author’s style, but you’ll pick up on cadences and rhythms that don’t show up in newspapers, business journals or conversation. Odds are good that there’s a book sitting on a shelf somewhere at home that you’ve been meaning to pick up. Do it. You’ll be amazed at how much of a better writer it will make you. I didn’t believe this when a grad school professor of mine pounded it into us, but he was right.
My personal favorites are Tom Wolfe (A Man in Full), Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged), J.D. Salinger (his short stories) and Hemingway (everything he wrote). I’m always open to more, so if you’ve got a suggestion send it along.
One Comment
Nice post, Dave.
Recently I’ve been fortunate to have read/am in the process of reading some really, really good books:
* Shantaram< by Gregory David Roberts (soon to be a movie directed by Mira Nair and starring Johnny Depp).
* The Perfect Vehicle: What It Is About Motorcycles by Melissa Holbrook Pierson
* The Place You Love is Gone also by Melissa Holbrook Pierson
* Laurel Canyon:The Inside Story of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker
* Inferno: The Fiery Destruction of Hamburg, 1943 by Keith Lowe
* The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
All of these books not only tell wonderfully engaging (if often harrowing or horrifying) stories, they exhibit simply great writing. I mean, how can you not love a book that begins like this:
“From my mother I learned to write prompt thank-you notes for a variety of occasions,” Melissa Holbrook Pierson writes. “From Mrs. King’s ballroom dancing school I learned a proper curtsy and, believe it or not, what to do if presented with nine eating utensils at the same place setting…. From motorcycles I learned practically everything else.”