Books That Made Me Want to Write and Take Creative Risks
Books, Stories, Voices, and Ideas That Gave Me the Courage to Begin, and Changed the Way I See Creativity
July Theme: Creative Courage
Big Question: What does it take to begin, risk, and share what you create?
Week 1: Beginning Before You Feel Ready
Every creative beginning asks something of us. And writing something new (or beginning to write again) requires a kind of creative courage that involves the willingness to be uncertain, to experiment, to be vulnerable in public, as well as trust in the writing process and that the next sentence will appear if we keep going.
As I’ve been thinking about creative beginnings this week, I’ve also been thinking about the books that made me want to write in the first place. Some expanded my sense of what stories and authors could do. Others challenged conventions, transformed language, or reminded me that literature can be much more than entertainment— that it can be a way of seeing, questioning, and imagining new worlds, as well as ourselves as writers and readers.
The following books are some of the books that have stayed with me over the years. They’ve encouraged me to take risks on the page, to embrace complexity rather than certainty, and to believe that the most meaningful writing often begins with curiosity instead of confidence, and that that curiosity is what gives us courage to keep exploring and creating.
Fiction
Shakespeare’s Tragedies and Comedies
Shakespeare’s plays taught me how playful (pun intended) writing and reading can be, and how important it is to understand your audience and push the limits of what you write, as well as what your readers are reading— once you know and understand the rules, or most of them anyway, of course.
No writer has demonstrated the elasticity of language quite like Shakespeare, which is why his works are still being studied to this day. His plays taught me that humor and heartbreak can occupy the same scene, that characters can contradict themselves and be complex, that certain situations will always be humanly universal, and that language itself can be endlessly inventive. Did you know he created and popularized hundreds of words that have since been entered into the English language? Words that we now take for granted like ‘addiction,’ ‘swagger,’ and ‘gossip.’
Inferno by Dante Alighieri
This work is a breathtaking example of imagination married to moral vision. Dante showed me that literature can build entire worlds while exploring the deepest questions about justice, identity, fear, and redemption. It revolutionized literary reception by utilizing the Tuscan vernacular rather than elite Latin, standardizing the Italian language, therefore bringing more accessibility to future works. The visceral descriptions of Hell, intricate political commentary, and theological boldness cemented its status as one of the most influential works of world literature. Did you know that most contemporary artistic renderings and conceptions of Hell are pulled from this work, even today?
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
This is a novel about creation in every sense. Shelley’s masterpiece reminds me that making something new is exhilarating, dangerous, and deeply human, which is a perfect metaphor for the creative process itself. There are so many scenes in this novel that will encourage you to contemplate creativity, life, and the responsibility that comes with both.
Dubliners by James Joyce
Joyce revealed the extraordinary within the ordinary in this work. His subtle attention to everyday lives demonstrated that profound stories don’t always require spectacular, flashy plots, only honest observation and introspection. This work showed me how powerful literary devices can be for making bold, political statements that resonate for decades, if not centuries.
The Poetry of Walt Whitman
Whitman’s poetry gave me permission to write expansively and unapologetically. His celebration of humanity during the middle of the Civil War, and his refusal to be constrained by traditional forms, continue to liberate my creative courage. I always feel more inspired to write poetry about topics that matter to me, and experiment with their forms, when I read his work.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Morrison’s lyrical precision and emotional depth forever changed my understanding of what fiction can accomplish. Every sentence in this novel feels both beautiful and devastating.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This book reminded me that storytelling can cultivate empathy while confronting injustice. Lee demonstrates how moral courage can emerge through memorable characters and deceptively simple prose, from the eyes of a child.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Few novels embody creative courage more completely than this one. Butler imagined a frightening future while insisting on adaptability, resilience, and the radical possibility of creating something better. When I think of the type of speculative fiction I want to write, I automatically think of her examples.
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
These books demonstrated that accessible storytelling can also be politically sharp, emotionally complex, and endure temporary fads. They inspired me to respect the power of genre fiction, especially as she continues to add works to the series.
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller
This novel is a witty and timely reminder that books matter because ideas matter. It’s both entertaining and deeply affirming for anyone who believes reading is an act of freedom, and that reading is essential to creative courage, or courage in general.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
A stunning celebration of stories surviving across centuries, this work offers a lot to those interested in exploring creative courage, as well as creative resilience. Doerr’s intricate structure encouraged me to think more boldly about narrative form and the invisible threads connecting readers across time.
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
A bold exploration of storytelling, authorship, identity, and the complicated relationship between creators and their creations, this work reminded me that writing is never completely separate from the worlds we inhabit or want to inhabit.
Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino
Tender, imaginative, and quietly profound, this novel demonstrates how speculative ideas can illuminate the emotional realities of being human and searching for belonging.
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
An inventive meditation on authorship, gender, and whose stories are remembered, this novel encourages readers and writers to question literary history and imagine what has been left unsaid. And I think it’s one of the more courageous works I’ve read recently.
American War by Omar El Akkad
A haunting vision of a future shaped by today’s divisions, El Akkad’s novel shows how speculative fiction can illuminate the present with remarkable clarity and emotional force. This is another work that has pushed my understanding of what type of speculative fiction I want to write and read.
The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
A timely exploration of surveillance, technology, freedom, and identity, Lalami demonstrates how fiction can ask urgent ethical questions while remaining deeply invested in individual lives and urgent present-day concerns in this novel.
Nonfiction
Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath by Heather Clark
An extraordinary literary biography that reveals the discipline, ambition, and artistic seriousness behind Plath’s work, this book reminded me that great writing is built as much through persistence as inspiration. Plath is my go-to example for creative courage in many respects now, thanks to this book.
Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon
A fascinating portrait of two women who challenged the intellectual boundaries of their eras, this book details how their lives embody the risks, and rewards, of thinking independently. And they, and their work, will serve as examples for creative courage for eons to come.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
A generous invitation to create without waiting for certainty, Gilbert argues that courage matters far more than fearlessness in this book, which is a lesson I return to often.
How to Think Like a Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind by Regan Penaluna
This book is an inspiring exploration of women whose philosophical contributions deserve wider recognition. It celebrates curiosity, intellectual courage, and the joy of asking difficult questions.
Thinking Without a Banister: Essays in Understanding, 1953–1975 by Hannah Arendt
Arendt demonstrates the importance of independent thought in uncertain times in this work. Her essays remind me that writing can be an act of clarity rather than certainty, and so much more.
Rhetoric as Philosophy: The Humanist Tradition by Ernesto Grassi
A challenging but rewarding defense of rhetoric, imagination, and metaphor as central to human understanding, this work deepened my appreciation for language as a way of discovering truth, not merely expressing it.
The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison
Morrison’s essays reveal the same brilliance found in her fiction. Reading her reflections on literature, history, and responsibility has continually challenged me to become a more thoughtful and courageous reader and writer.
Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner
This book includes the compelling reminder that creativity often begins with paying closer attention. Keltner argues that wonder, even creativity, isn’t as rare as we’re wont to believe. Instead, he argues it’s available in ordinary moments… if we’re willing to pay attention and notice it.
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
Less a productivity book than a philosophy of finite life, Burkeman’s work encourages choosing what matters most. For writers, it’s a liberating reminder that meaningful work grows from attention, not endless efficiency. And that what you pay attention to matters. Which is essential to the creative lifestyle and the courage living one takes.
Looking back over this list, I’m reminded that the books that shape us often do more than entertain us. They primarily challenge us. They invite us to ask questions, imagine new worlds, and see possibilities beyond what we already know. And the writers behind these works took creative risks. They experimented with form, explored uncomfortable truths, challenged expectations, and trusted their unique visions enough to bring something new into the world.
That may be the greatest gift these books offer. They remind us that every act of creation begins with courage. A blank page, a new idea, or an unfamiliar direction can feel uncertain, but it is also where important discoveries begin.
As we continue exploring this month’s theme of creative courage, next week we’ll be turning toward the question of taking creative risks and what it means to move beyond the familiar, embrace uncertainty, and make choices that allow our most original ideas to emerge. Because every story, every work of art, and every meaningful beginning starts with someone willing to take the first risk.
I’d love to hear from you!
What books made you want to write, think differently, or take creative risks? Let me know in the comments or chat.
And please don’t forget to like and share this post if you enjoyed it so others can enjoy it too. Thank you!
Want to read with us?
Egalitarian Book Club is currently reading Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond.
Week 1 (July 1-5 )— Prologue- Chapter 1
Week 2 (July 6-12)— Chapters 2-4
Week 3 (July 13- 19)— Chapters 5-7
Week 4 (July 20-31) — Finish Book
July 31st: Discuss entire book in Substack chat thread
Continue Exploring July’s Creative Courage Theme
ICYMI—>This week’s Posts: Beginning Before You Feel Ready
Beginning Before You Feel Ready: Writing Prompts
Do writers need to feel ready before they begin a new project?
Beginnings and endings are linked in a lot of ways…
Why Beginning Feels So Difficult, But Doesn’t Have to Be
Consider going more in depth with this month’s theme with July’s Creative Courage Writing Collection.
The writing collection is designed to help you explore creative courage from different angles: discovering your voice, strengthening your craft, experimenting with new approaches, and reflecting on the writer you are becoming.
The free posts published this month will explore the outward side of creative courage—beginning, risking, and sharing— and should complement this collection quite well, which invites you to go much deeper into the internal work of creativity with 30 guided writing prompts and craft exercises, reflections, as well as three options for guided monthly writing challenges for those who want to go even further than that.
Great work, interesting list. Many inspiring books in there for sure. I like how you started with old texts - I sometimes forget how the writers of hundreds (or even thousands) of years ago were writing brilliantly about exactly the same feelings, conflicts, challenges etc that still concern people today! People are the same.