Nine books that changed how I write

I love hearing about the books that influence other people. Some of my own favourite reads have been books recommended by others.

Here is a list I compiled of the books that I can see directly influenced how I feel about writing, or that impacted my own writing style. Some are fiction, some are essays, some are poetry.

I’d love to know if any of there are on your own ‘love’ list, or if you try any of these out, do let me know how you find them.

Mary xx

1.

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

by Annie Dillard

This was the first of Annie Dillard’s books I read (I’ve since read all of them). A couple of people had mentioned her work, and finally I bought myself a copy. I alternated between devouring it and reading nothing for days, waiting for my sense to return. She writes like a poet, twisting and flipping prose, entangling nature and science and spirit in a way that left me reeling. What this book gave me most of all was permission to let the words in my head spill out in whatever way they wanted to. Break every rule and find what your voice sounds like when give it free rein.

I also loved her books of essays Teaching a Stone to Talk and Holy the Firm, her novel The Maytrees and her guide to writing called The Writing Life.

After I read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek I discovered she wrote it in 1974 and I was staggered. It felt fresh and utterly original. I haven’t read another writer like her.

2.

The Testament of Mary

by Colm Toibin

I took this novel with me to an essay-writing class. The facilitator asked us to bring a book we love, and to choose the first book that came to mind. We then shared with the group why we loved it.

This book brought up emotions in me that were deep and unexpectedly new. It is the story of Jesus’ mother, Mary. It is written as her account of the period immediately prior to his crucifixion. If you have a child you’ll know this is a heart-breaking read. You know how it’s going to end and that keeps you in a state of discomfort throughout. But it is also written in a way that keeps you feeling like you don’t know what is going to happen next, probably because no-one has told this story before. While he doesn’t play with language in the way that Dillard does, Toibin does something interesting with his writing that I still can’t put my finger on.

Testament of Mary was recommended to me by the owner of an independent bookstore in Wellington that I used to visit a lot. Over the years, and through our many conversations about books, the owner had come to recognise story that I’d enjoy. So this is also a plug for frequenting your local independent bookstore and talking to the owner about the books you’ve loved!

3.

Bird by Bird

by Anne Lamott

Short but sweet (my review, not the book). Anne Lamott is a bonafide genius. Hilarious, straight-talking, self-effacing and full of wisdom in both life and writing. So many writers I know have this one on their bookshelf (if not their handbag).

4.

Ten Windows: How great poems transform the world

by Jane Hirshfield

A while ago I had an urge to write poetry. I tried to write, and it was average. I wasn’t able to do what I needed with language in order to write poems the way I wanted to. The urge was to learn and learn fast. I looked up ‘best books for writing poetry’ online. I borrowed and bought as many as I could. Ten Windows was the best, by far.

Hirshfield is a poet herself, and this book of essays reads like poetry. Not only did I learn a lot about poetry, I learned (as I did with Dillard) that good prose can bewitch the mind in the same way a poem can. I was constantly reading a page and putting it down to stare out the window, letting a beautiful phrase or a line roll around in my head for a while. I’d call this book a must read.

5.

The Bone People

by Keri Hulme

This 1984 book won the Booker Prize and is written by a New Zealander (woohoo!). When I finally set this book down (it took a while—it’s 476 pages) I felt like I could happily never write again. Instead, I could buy a crate load of this book, hand it out to everyone I know and feel like my contribution to the world was done. I wondered if I loved it so much because it was set in New Zealand and deeply rooted in a culture I know and love, but I have overseas friends who loved it equally well.

6.

New and Selected Poems

by Mary Oliver

Oh, Mary O….what can you say? A couple of years ago I became part of an incredible online writing community. I’d never read poetry before that (unless you count the painful, lengthy reading of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner at high school, which I don’t.) Many of those writing friends live in the States, and everyone seemed to know the poems of Mary Oliver. I was quickly hooked. Her poetry leads you out through fields and into the woods, points out revelations as if they were stars, then leads you home and settles you next to the fire. For me, hers is the gold standard of poetry.

7.

River Flow

by David Whyte

If there were two gold standards (okay, there are two gold standards), Mary Oliver is one and David Whyte is the other. For me his poetry has become extra special because I introduced my Dad to it, and now he loves it too! It turns out my Dad has always enjoyed poetry, I just didn’t know it. Sometimes he sends me newspaper clippings of poems that he sees in print and thinks I’ll like. Thanks Dad xoxo

8.

84 Charing Cross Road

by Helene Hanff

Published in 1971, and made into a movie starring Anne Bancroft, this book showed me what it looks like when someone spills their true self onto the page, and what it means to be singularly yourself. And humour—oh my goodness, Helene Hanff is a riot. If you love books and bookshops (who doesn’t?) you’ll probably love this book. It may also be the reason I felt so free to chat with the owner of my own bookstore all those years ago (and do so still today, now at my lovely local secondhand bookstore Liberty Books).

9.

Essays of E. B. White

Most of us know E. B. White as the author of Charlotte’s Web. I loved that book as a child and recently had the joyful experience of reading it aloud to my daughter (oh, Charlotte…. my heart broke all over again, doubly so as my daughter realised what was about to happen). For me, this book of essays eclipses Charlotte’s Web. Sure, they’re not in the same category—children’s novel v book of essays—but they are both top of their class, so in that sense a comparison seems okay.

E. B. White wrote these essays over the course of a couple of decades, often for The New Yorker, and it is writing at its finest. This is no surprise—White is also the co-author of The Style of Writing, a seminal writing guide that many writers have in their toolbox. The essays are also a fabulous window into the 1950’s, almost a living document. Incredibly, his insightful commentary still rings true today when it comes to connection to the land, politics and war.

If you enjoy essays, I feel sure you will love this book. And if you haven’t read essays before, don’t be put off, an essay is just a short piece of writing on a particular subject! Right, I’ve talked myself into rereading this book yet again, so I’m off…..