Zen in the Art of Writing

Why it’s on the list: Bradbury’s essays on how he worked, collected in 1990. It holds the written form of the advice he gave from the stage: feed the subconscious a wide, daily diet of stories, poems and essays, and let the metaphors collide.

Where I heard about it

• Cited as a source of Bradbury’s thousand-nights reading program: one short story, one poem and one essay every night. The essay “How to Keep and Feed a Muse” is the relevant chapter. Literary Hub’s compilation, Ray Bradbury’s Greatest Writing Advice, also draws on the book.

About the book

The essays were written over about three decades and gathered as a collection in 1990. Two lines quoted from “How to Keep and Feed a Muse”:

“It is my contention that in order to Keep a Muse, you must first offer food.”

“I have fed my Muse on equal parts of trash and treasure.”

Connections

• Ray Bradbury — the author.
• An Evening with Ray Bradbury (2001) — the keynote where he delivered the same program aloud.
• Ray Bradbury’s Greatest Writing Advice — the compilation that quotes it.
• Fahrenheit 451
• Writing
• Reading