Six Books on Creativity We All Should Read

In second grade, I said something that made the entire class laugh. I realized the power of words, and spent the next ten years saying dumb stuff in school to get a laugh. I’ve been chasing that dream ever since.

That was a big part of my wanting to become a writer.

My early training, including getting the laughs in school, at parties, or at the place where I worked, was all trial and error. Blurt something out and see what happens.

There were better ways to learn this stuff, but I was ignorant of how that was done.

After high school, I fully caught the bug to become a writer.

Not knowing a thing about it, I turned to books for instruction. I’ve read close to one hundred books about writing. Some were keepers that I refer back to often; others, not so much. But what all those books missed was advice on nurturing creativity.

They talk about technique, structure, and genre. How to develop character and build suspense. None of them, however, discuss how to tap into that part of yourself that wants to write in the first place.

I’ve dabbled in drawing, as well, and the various books are about technique and style. They go hard on the tools—brushes, paper, inks and whatnot—but not so much about the art spirit in your soul.

I had a screenplay instructor who spent nearly half the time of his classes talking about our creativity and how to nurture it and tap into it. The power of writing, he said, came from our learning to integrate our own unique creativity with the expected story designs of the audience. That is, the audience wants the reassuring comfort of recognizable genres (romantic comedy, thriller, or fantasy) and the surprising flavor of the writer’s creative take on the subject matter.

That was the first time I’d heard such a thing, and it set me off on a search for books that were about nurturing and tapping into our creativity.

I think there are more, but here are six books that do it nicely.

The books are:

Do you think about the importance of word selection, and how words assembled in a sentence can have a sacred meaning? This book is about rising to the challenge of that sacredness, told in a personal way, it will help you find the meaning of what you want to say.

The hard work of writing, or any art, comes down to setting yourself a challenge that adheres to your creative spirit, and then showing up to do it. You may be frustrated, you may lose touch with why you ever embarked on this creative journey, but Anne Lamott’s words will comfort you and remind you of what it is you’re trying to do.

I came to this book because I’m interested in cartooning, but I found so much more within. It’s part memoir, part instruction book, part training for storytelling. The drawing and cartooning are almost secondary. Every storyteller and artist should read this book.

I bought this book based on its title. Within, I found a collection of aphorisms about art, drawing, and life. It’s a great book to keep nearby for inspiration and instruction. It will help you tap into your creativity.

The Gift is a book I have on my to-be-read pile; someday soon, I’ll read it. I know going in that it is about how the act of creativity is a gift we must share with the world. Creativity is part of our humanity.

If you’ve heard someone who has read this book talk about it, you'd think The Artist’s Way is the end-all, be-all of books on creativity. If you’re only going to read a single book, read that one. Make it the first. It won’t steer you wrong.

The Artist's Way is not something you read on the weekend, or before you go to bed. It demands interaction and commitment. It's more of a twelve-step program to reclaim your creative spirit.

I started this six weeks ago as a run-up to my next birthday, helping me build momentum in continuing my writing for the rest of my life. So far, pretty damn good stuff.

I don't know that I need a conclusion, but it's nice to have a button to wrap things up at the end. This is that button.

I've blathered on before about how the world we're in saps our creative energy, or suppresses our urges. Why make art when stores have aisles jam-packed with stuff we can use to decorate our house? Why write when the Internet is overflowing with all the utterances, real or not, ever made?

Creativity is fun, for one thing. It can be fulfilling, for another. It can help us connect with our world and our community. The art we share and the stories we tell can heal broken spirits.

If you don't know if you can be creative again, these books may help.