Is there such a thing? YES!
I LOVE all my new writer friends, I really do, but y’all are going to kill me.
I have a massive ‘to read’ book list. I used to keep it in my head, but I had to put it into a physical list when it started to hurt. Popular books that everybody talks about. Classics that should be read by everybody, but especially writers. Books that I know just enough about to be sure it will change the way I think after I read it, let alone how I write. “How to” grammar and writing style books that I haven’t gotten to. (I just discovered Bukowski has one… !!!) New books get traditionally published to my favorite genres constantly, and e-books exploded in the last five years.
Since I started writing, walking into the big box-type of book store often causes my eyes to water. It’s NOT allergies! SO many books! TOO many books! I NEED to read them all, but I have stories to tell, too. How can I ever be found in this monstrous pile of books?
(On a personal note, early notes from my first-round of beta readers are promising. It may not be a huge pile of crap after all. One of my readers, who has been in a bit of a writer’s block, had to stop… to go write something that has been jangling around in her head. I gloated when she told me, maybe even snickered. I don’t mind the delay. My book affected her. YES!)
Then I started hanging out on-line with other writers. Y’all have books I want to read. Sometimes, LOTS of books. Then you tell me about more books that you love, and your enthusiasm makes me want to love them, too. I understand how reviews are the life blood for independent and small press writers. I want to help. I can’t seem to pass up the $.99 book deal, and have a few (a lot) squirreled away. I could happily sit around and read all these wonderful books, books, and more books.
Wait. Wasn’t I writing something?
Allen Ginsberg said: «Follow your inner moonlight ― don’t hide the madness.» Set on top of your massive ‘to read’ book list – «On Being A Writer» (edited by Bill Strickland), a rare guide to writing that is both practical and inspiriting – an anthology of 31 interviews compiling the insights and advises of people like my beloveth Allen Ginsberg. That’s my humble advice….
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Thank you for the advice; I’ve added it to the pile. I’ve never been afraid of my moonlight, but learning to show the madness to others is the real trick.
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