Whether you grew up with Jane Austen or Marvel Comics, there’s no doubt our reading habits have a huge impact on how we view the world, and who we become. What motivates us to read is different for everyone: for some it’s one of life’s simple pleasures, others see it as a chore. For some, it’s a quest for knowledge.
We’re not all destined to become novelists or poets. But in an age where content is king, almost everyone in the business world is now compelled to write. For some this can be terrifying, especially if they’ve convinced themselves, ‘I’m not a writer’.
The best advice I believe comes from writers themselves. They too have their bad days, when creativity dries up and the words stop flowing.
In the words of American horror writer Stephen King, “If you want to be a writer, you must read a lot, and write a lot.”
So where do you start? What books should you read?
I recently posed this question to my LinkedIn network and was blown away by the response: a wonderfully diverse list from fantasies to biographies, sales to spirituality and everything in between.
So here it is!
25 titles to inspire the writer in you
- The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
- Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert B. Cialdini
- The Elements of Style – William Strunk Jnr
- Book Yourself Solid – Michael Port
- The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
- The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
- The Lord of the Rings – J.R. Tolkien
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking – Susan Cain
- Thirty Seconds – Michael J. Arlen
- Shoe Dog: : A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE – Phil Knight
- Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear – Elizabeth Gilbert
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – Carol S. Dweck
- Stealing Fire – Steven Kotler
- How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics – Michael Pollan
- The Four Agreements Wisdom Book – Don Miguel Ruiz
- How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie
- On the Road – Jack Kerouac
- On Writing – Stephen King
- The Road Less Travelled – M. Scott Peck
- Return to Love: Reflections on the Principle of A Course in Miracles – Marianne Wiliamson
- Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One – Dr. Joe Dispenza
- The Writing Book: A Practical Guide for Fiction Writers – Kate Grenville
- A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics – Daniel Levitin
- Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
- Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting – Robert McKee
If you have others to recommend, please tell us in the comments!
