Invitation vs. Inspiration
Perhaps my previous post was not clear enough in its intentions. Instead of portraying myself as a writer full of self loathing, I was hoping to spark a conversation about which writers invited us (you, me, them) to start writing.
For me, it was Vonnegut. But his work was just that–an invitation to pick up a pencil. Now, I return to his work to remind myself of why I started. But rarely do I find myself inspired keep writing. When I’m “blocked” or lacking proper motivation to create, I turn to two books: Denis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son and Richard Russo’s The Whore’s Child (I obviously like possessive nouns and references to Catholicism). There’s something about these two books–the messiness of Johnson and the tightness of Russo–that grease my gears.
So, in an attempt to beef up my bookshelf and possibly add to my well (is that what they call it, the well?), my question to you all is this: who (or what) invited you to write and who (or what) inspires you to keep writing?
Bret Easton Ellis’ The Rules of Attraction did it for me. I read it years ago, when saying “fuck” and talking emphatically about drugs was all the rage, and I couldn’t believe one could write about such things and get published. Granted, I didn’t know anything about the craft of writing, so my early stories and “essays” are rather awkward/horrid reads.
As for what keeps me going, I usually flip open a nonfiction anthology, or a Phillip Lopate book when I need a little push. Richard Selzer’s essay “The Knife,” in particular, is a good reminder of why I became a writer.
For fiction: I always go back to Hemingway’s short stories (esp. the Nick Adams stories) and Fitzgerald’s short stories (esp. his post-1929 stuff).
For poetry: Russell Edson. Mark Strand. Bly.
I’d been writing stories off and on since I could hold a pencil, but it was Francine Prose’s Blue Angel that really got me started–that, and the myriad plays that I read when I was in the theater (especially the absurdists). What keeps me going is constantly changing–for a while it was Lorrie Moore and now I feel like I get a spark of inspiration every time I read something really great, regardless of author or genre.
Henry Miller did it for me. If I could find someone who could get me going now, I’d share that info with you.
When I was younger, it was Nikki Giovanni. Now it’s Albert Goldbarth, Russell Edson, Denis Johnson’s poems, Robert Hass, Rachel Zucker, and Kim Addonizio.
When I take down Tim O’Brien—Things They Carried or Lake of the Woods—it always makes me want to write. DeLillo, too.
Ah! Things They Carried is on my reading list. Will definitely get to it this summer.
For me it’s not one particular writer. Growing up in a house filled with books and discovering how many different kind of writers there was made me want to write. Back then it seemed like you could write in your own style and still be an author.
Reading essay collections keeps me going. My favorites of the moment are Diana Joseph, Tom Lynch, Jo Ann Beard, Brenda Miller.
[...] see now that in his posting the following week, “Invitation vs. Inspiration,” several people answered the question Steve posed (now I feel guilty that I didn’t read that [...]