Books that Inspired Me to Write (Thursday Writing Essentials)

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For a creative writer possession of the "truth" is less important than emotional sincerity.

George Orwell

Books That Inspired Me to Write

When I was growing up there were two kinds of books that inspired me to write: the first were books that told great stories and the second were books that sounded like music as they were being read.

There are, to be sure, plenty of how to books and books that convey the author's thoughts on one subject or another, but the books that will stay with me for the rest of my life are the ones that tell a great story, whether fiction or not. Books that engage all of my physical senses, grab my emotions, and put me in the thick of things made me want to tell stories and write books. Some of these favorites for me include Anne of Green Gables, Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Kidnapped, Treasure Island and Robin Hood. I still weep when I read about Jo leaving home to become a writer, still get chilled when I think about Tom stuck in the caves, still get indignant when Anne's braids get dipped in the inkwell. I devoured those books as steadily as I munched pb&j sandwiches.

The other type of book that inspired me to write is the kind where the words trip right off the tongue like in Dr. Seuss, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash and even Mother Goose. Sometimes the sound of the words sent my very being vibrating like the tintinnabulation of Edgar Allen Poe's bells. I delight in putting word sounds together that have rhythm and song.

Some of these books arrived in my hands via Santa's sleigh, but for the most part I got them from the library. I read them by the armload. I read while I walked to the school bus, read on a blanket in the front yard, read as soon as I finished an assignment ahead of my classmates. I just couldn't keep from reading. I hope that someday, my stories will inspire some other reader to write her stories for the world to read.

© Susan K. Barton 2007

This is written in response to Kimberley's Thursday Writing Essentials at Gather Essentials:Writing prompt for 12/27/07  - Books that Inspire.

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