Dear Geist,

Can you suggest a good solid book on writing that would help me unearth the material that I’m pretty sure is deep deep down? Short writing exercises don’t go far enough, and I think a better, more rigorous reach would knock some stuff loose. Or not. Heck, I’m just trying things.

—Candace T, Buffalo NY

Dear Candace,

Our hats are off to you for leaning on your material and asking for more. We are reminded of a book published years ago, by the late writer and teacher Eve Shellnut. One of her wonderful books, The Writing Room: Keys to the Craft of Fiction and Poetry, has a long list of “Exercises to Help Find Material,” which are “designed both to expand memory and to broaden the concept of material for writing.” She goes on to say that “writers already deeply involved in their relationship to material will find the exercises artificial, and they are. Anyone using the exercises, however, will discover those which stimulate memory and imagination.” Her exercises include making a list of your characters as they exist, drawing a map of places you have written about and daydreaming about that map. She even outlines exercises designed for days when the writer cannot sit down for a “real” session.

Oodles of other inspiring books on the subject are available in libraries, shops and online. In our view, there can never be too many!

—The Editors