If you’re reading this column, there’s no doubt you’re a reader, but do you possibly also have a hankering to write? If so, you’re in luck. Two new books from Pacific Northwest authors share time-tested know-how with anyone hoping to tackle a writing project.

Tacoma-based Marissa Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author who has written in the fantasy, superhero and romantic comedy genres. Until the end of last year, she also hosted a long-running podcast called The Happy Writer, which included conversations with authors.

Now, she has stuffed many of those gleaned nuggets of wisdom into a book of the same name. “The Happy Writer” covers everything from finding inspiration to digging into research, the difference between plotting and “pantsing,” and how to get feedback, revise or find an agent.

Meyer dedicates the first section of her book to ideas for filling “your well for lifelong creativity.” The author wants to convey the idea that “there’s no prerequisite that says a task has to make us miserable or frustrated or endlessly stressed in order to be worthwhile.”   

Very true, although as one who has been known to procrastinate, I could also see how some of Meyer’s suggestions in this section (“Start a Someday List,” for example, or “Take a Power Nap”) could be mistaken as permission for more procrastination. 

Wade a little deeper into “The Happy Writer,” though, and you’ll find more actionable nuts and bolts in terms of the actual writing process.

Meyer tackles some of the tougher facts of publishing life, too — how to deal with rejection or criticism, what happens when you decide your agent is no longer the right person to be representing your work, or what to do when your publisher folds.

The business end of things is something that the author of the second book, “Imagine a Door,” also knows a lot about.

Laura Stanfill has seen publishing success with her well-received historical novel, “Singing Lessons for the Stylish Canary,” but she is also the mainstay behind the award-winning Portland-based publishing house called Forest Avenue Press, which for more than a decade has been publishing “literary fiction on a joyride.” 

Stanfill intimately knows the joys and pitfalls of publishing, and she shares them in this new book. But more importantly, this is a generous guide that aims to help writers unlock the story they were meant to tell. 

Similar to Meyer, Stanfill urges writers to “train our brains to count every good thing in our careers,” to celebrate steps along the way because “there’s worth in having done the work.”  

“Imagine a Door” has pragmatic advice, but offers more than just a tool kit. The book provides thoughtful and abundant encouragement to writers, first as they work to commit their stories to the page and, later, when they launch their work into the world.

The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, authors and publishers of the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink.com.

 

This week’s books

“Imagine a Door” by Laura Stanfill

Forest Avenue Press — 513 pp — $20

“The Happy Writer” – Marissa Meyer

Feiwel and Friends — 416 pp — $19.99