Ten books for the ebb and flow of a writer’s life.

I dislike the term “writer’s block,” because it suggests to me that writing is a smooth flowing state of creativity that is suddenly and irrevocably obstructed by some shift in momentum and focus that can render us powerless. I prefer to see the creative process as the ebb of flow of the tides of life. It’s something we can work with and around to maximize benefits to our writing life.

I enjoy the act of physically writing, the sh-sh-sh of my fountain pen on paper as ink flows out as let...