Two new books about writing break down the creative process

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 670 Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Writing is hard. So is writing about writing. And, sometimes, reading about writing. But today, we have two books that attempt to break down the literary creative process into manageable pieces. Three Six Five is author Lucy Ives’ collection of individual writing prompts for each day of the year. She sits down with NPR’s Scott Simon to discuss the book, along with why she believes “the best time to write is when you think that you don’t want to.” Then, celebrated children’s book author Mac Barnett joins NPR’s Elissa Nadworny to discuss Make Believe, his meditation for adults about writing books for kids.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Melissa Adwarnie, and this is NPR's Book of the Day.
0:06.1	Today, we've got two nonfiction books about writing.
0:09.4	In a moment, you'll hear about a fun conversation I had with Mack Barnett,
0:13.6	famous children's book author and our nation's ambassador for children's literature.
0:18.3	But first, Lucy Ives, a writer, poet, and teacher gives us her
0:22.9	latest book called 365, prompts, acts, and divinations. Sure, it has 365 exercises for writing
0:30.9	to help you with your creative writing endeavors, but there's also meditations and ideas and
0:36.6	inspiration to help you actually believe you are a writer.
0:41.1	She spoke with Weekend Edition's Scott Simon.
0:44.1	Got a suggestion here, listeners.
0:46.1	Put down your bagel, pick up a pen and paper, fire up the laptop, open the notes app on your phone, whatever your chosen method. Face the blank page. Now what?
0:57.7	Well, here's an idea. Walk to a place where you can sit a while undisturbed. Now write a detailed
1:04.9	account of how you got there. The shorter the trip, the longer the account should be.
1:10.7	Oh, Lucy Ives. The author of the books, the longer the account should be. Ooh, Lucy Ives.
1:12.9	Author of the Books, My Name Enteres America,
1:15.5	and Life is Everywhere, is out with the collection.
1:18.5	Daily exercises to inspire creative writing.
1:22.0	It's called 3,6, 5 prompts, acts, divinations.
1:27.4	And Lucy Ises joins us now from Corinth, Vermont. Thanks so much for being
1:30.8	with us. Thank you so much for having me. You've written for the Paris Review. You've been newly named
1:36.3	Guggenheim Fellow. What prompts this book? Well, this is a book that comes out of the process I use myself to teach myself how to write
1:49.1	when I was a younger person in my 20s.
	...

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