Writers Supporting One Another

Wandering around other writer’s/reader’s blogs can be a great avoidance technique, but it can also be a great means of writers offering encouragement and support to one another. I’m just beginning to network, to access unknown blogs from blogs I’ve already discovered and I’m finding so many of you who face the same obstacles and/or joys that I deal with on a daily basis. What a boost it is to learn that something you’ve posted has hit home with someone else, has helped them get “unstuck” or encouraged them to move beyond their comfort zone.

Conversely, how helpful it is to glean prompts from other writers, to learn of opportunities or, as happened this morning, to unearth resources or tools to help us in our craft. Today, I received an e-mail update from Lisa Rivero (see her link on my blog roll) with some of her favorite books for writers, a few of which are among my favorites, others unfamiliar to me.

Here are some of the reads I find most valuable–books I return to time and again in my own writing endeavors. Hope you find some of them helpful to you, as well.

• “The Poetry Repair Manual” by Ted Kooser
• “Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry” by Jane Hirschfield
• “The Poet’s Companion” by Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux
• All of the volumes from Writer’s Digest’s “Write Great Fiction” series
• “Word Painting” by Rebecca McClanahan
• Not exactly a writing-specific book, but “Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types” based on the Meyers-Briggs personality types by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates is an invaluable reference for me in developing and maintaining consistent character in my novels.

While you’re at it, visit Lisa’s site, let her lead you on to other writers who will help you on your sometimes lonely road to publishing.