Choosing five books to guide your writing should be difficult considering how many are available. But, the truth is my choices aren’t necessarily the books that will tell you how to write a beautiful sentence, or to craft a perfect poem. No, this is a very personal choice because these are the books that helped me become a writer in the first place. The authors helped give me the permission to put my pen to paper by giving me, not a list of rules and what-not-to’s, but the confidence I could do it my way.

My first book is Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. I’ve given many copies of this book to friends as presents over the years because it is so inspiring and different. The book is split it into small essays, some only a page long, with titles ranging from “Why Do I Write?” to “The Action of a Sentence” to “Fighting Tofu” – as this suggests, the information given ranges from the practical to the zany. Most have a writing prompt attached, and you can either work your way through or dip in and out. As well as being a truly engaging writer, Natalie Goldberg is both a runner and a Buddhist, and the reason I mention this is because hers is the best account of how every bit of a writer’s life becomes part of their work too.

Secondly, Tristine Rainer is the expert on personal writing, and her The New Diary is still the book on writing a journal that I’ll pick up first if I need inspiration. As well as a “how to” using her own examples, Rainer covers issues such as privacy and dream work, and some of her suggested writing exercises are positively life-transforming. I particularly like her descriptions of “diary dialogues,” something I have incorporated into my daily writing practice as I now have conversations on the page with my writing, my novel in progress, different parts of myself and many others. Tristine Rainer makes such ideas allowable – you’ll be surprised where she takes you.

Many people may have been put off by Stephen King’s book, On Writing because of his work in the horror genre. They don’t need to be. The book is split into two halves, one his life-story and one about his writing. In the writing side, he gives probably one of the best and clearest descriptions of how to write I’ve seen. It’s very readable, and inspirational, as well as honest. And he’s funny. Despite his success and his many bestsellers, he doesn’t come across as a know-it-all. This feels like a very honest account of works for him. This line in particular stood out for me, “Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.” Beautiful.

Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way is her most famous book, not least because of her inspirational idea of “morning pages.” Three pages of thoughts before you get going every day. However, I prefer a later book, The Right to Write. As with the other books on this list, Cameron shares her own writing process and gives suggestions to get the inspiration juices going. One of my favorite exercises is to sit down and without stopping, write a list of 100 things you love. Actually, what are you waiting for? Stop reading now, find a piece of paper and go…

But hopefully you haven’t gone anywhere just yet because I wouldn’t want anyone to miss Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit. Although not written specifically, if it all, for writers, there are lessons here about discipline, organization and creativity that I find invaluable. My own copy is underlined and dog-eared, with scribbles on nearly every page. Twyla Tharp is a choreographer and she is generous in sharing her experience. She details how the inspiration for some of her pieces has come, once from an illustration on a museum vase, and also, just as importantly, she tells of the times she has failed. Although she admits she is personally driven, she is realistic about the rest of us. “Whom the Gods wish to destroy, they give unlimited resources,” she writes.

And those are my top five. I’d love to know your best creativity books, whether writing or otherwise. And I’ve enjoyed doing this so much, I hope I can persuade Carrie and Danielle to let me talk about some of the other books hiding away on my bookshelf now!

Photo by Shiny Things. In case you’re wondering, it’s Hemingway’s typewriter, which you can find in the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum.