This svelte, under-200-page masterpiece has been helping people “free the writer within” for almost 40 years! Her belief that everyone has a story to tell is a touchstone for how we approach our own teaching. Here’s one quote where she articulates this view beautifully: “we all have a dream of telling our stories — of realizing what we think, feel, and see before we die.”

There’s nobody who combines unvarnished memoir, expert writing advice, and humor like Anne Lamott. From Bird by Bird (among many others) comes one of the all-time liberating pieces of writing wisdom: “Give yourself permission to write shitty first drafts.”

Some aspects of this book are a bit prescriptive and pedantic for podcast scriptwriting, but any writer committed to using language with precision should have a copy on their shelf. This book also has the single best one-paragraph description of editing that we’ve ever seen. We quote it in full because this is good guidance whether you’re writing a 30-second trailer, a 120-page movie script, or 400-page novel:

”Rule 17: omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”

This inspiring memoir-meets-artistic-practice book gave us the phrase “creative living” which we use as a shorthand for all the habits, mindsets, tools, and commitments that add up to a fulfilling existence of self-expression. Printed books are great for taking notes, but this one is a delight as an audiobook (read by Gilbert herself), with her transparent joy and chutzpah.

The premise of this standout vocational book is that some key aspects of design work (collaboration, iteration, curiosity) can help us solve life problems as well. If there’s one book you want to get on vocational direction, it might be this one. This was the source for the “work view” and “life view” exercises in our very first module, about creative motivation.

This book follows Ed Catmull’s biography as co-founder of Pixar, but is packed with valuable lessons for anyone who wants to build their own successful creative culture — or better personal habits for creative work. Creativity, Inc. was a key source for our module 15, on collaboration and critique, as Catmull highlights the teamwork and feedback practices that have enabled Pixar to make consistently excellent work for decades.

This compact, stylish coffee table book was written for architects especially — but many of the lessons transcend architecture and apply to any creative discipline. For example, this note could be talking about building materials, or sound design: “Any aesthetic quality is usually enhanced by the presence of a counterpoint.”

The book follows a simple structure with a two-page spread for each non-sequential observation: black and white drawing on the left, and brief comment on the right. This makes 101 Things the perfect book to grab for a quick hit of inspiration.

This powerhouse essay collection includes boldface names from many creative fields, and covers everything from motivation to time management and many other aspects of the creative lifestyle. One of the key assumptions which editor Glei lays out (which we resonate with) is that while there are no one-size-fits-all creative solutions, there are a number of creative best practices which we can all benefit from, and this snackable volume collects a lot of them.

Like Matthew Frederick’s book, this is an industry how-to guide (ad copywriting, in this case) that transcends the industry and offers valuable lessons on creative work in general. Two sample transferable insights that apply just as well to podcast scriptwriting as to advertising: “never leave a hot keyboard” and “wit invites participation.”

Since podcasting is such a young medium, there aren’t a lot of authoritative books on the subject — but this is one. The author interviews people from the big shows like Snap Judgment and This American Life, on the major topics of narrative podcasting, from scriptwriting, audio editing, collaboration, critique, and interviewing.

Wait, a book on visual design in the audio and podcasting section? But yes: it was reviewing this book when helping an intensive grad with her resume that prompted the realization that the core visual design principles she discusses can also provide a great framework for approaching sound design.

(And also, since we live in such a visual world, and we all may have to design podcast cover art, a resume, an event poster, or our own website, this slim and easy-to-read guide belongs on everyone’s shelf.)