teach yourself to write poetry: best instructional books

Forget college!

I mean, go if you want, but you don’t have to in order to be an exceptional writer. Though —I’ll admit— it’s great for networking and camaraderie.

But I digress. The purpose of this blog post is not to debate the value of education, but rather to give you some tools to enjoy the edifying practice of writing without breaking the bank. Writing should, after all, be a fairly egalitarian practice.

If you are looking to be a self-taught writer, these are my favorite books about the practice. They were foundational in forming my creative process that I currently use. As far as I’m concerned, the following books are cannon:

“Glitter in the Blood” by Mindy Nettifee

“Writing Down the Bones” by Natalie Goldberg

“Ordinary Genius” by Kim Addonizio

The first book I read was “Glitter in the Blood” by Mindy Netifee (Write Blood Press).

I love Mindy’s writing style. I supposed this shouldn’t be a surprise. She directly cites that she is influenced by Kurt Vonnegut.

Mindy feels like a friend. A very knowledgeable, quirky, and supportive teacher.

Through that book, I discovered the other two.

“Writing Down the Bones” read like a memoir about the spiritual conquest of writer’s block. She alludes to the practice of writing as an almost spiritual practice, yet it still reads in a down to earth tone. It reminds me of some of the excerpts I have read from Rick Rubin’s newest book on the creative process.

“Ordinary Genius” is an intimate and gentle tour through the art form. The guide (Kim Addonizio) is very humble and encouraging as she delves into poetic craftsmanship and technicalities that I didn’t see in the other books. I learned a lot about how to read and write using literary devices, structure, space, punctuation, etc.

All three books are must-reads.

Pick your poison.

Tell me your favorite books about writing.

Cheers!