On today’s installment of All Things Considered’s "You Must Read This" series, the British writer Rebecca Scott rhapsodizes about rereading Moby Dick again and again, a habit I can certainly relate to. She writes that she keeps it by her writing desk, and reaches for it whenever she loses her nerve – because Melville had nerve, and guts. This made me gasp out loud! I too keep Moby Dick by my desk, for this exact reason. It is far too easy to lose one’s nerve when writing, and it helps to have something outrageous and daring to spur one on.

You out there – what books help you gird your loins and get on with the writing?