These books, by 20th century women writers, are each about the art of writing. They'd make an interesting series for a reading group. Individual readers may also find them useful and, perhaps, inspirational, in their insights into the lives of women writers.
1. Writing for Your Life: A Guide and Companion to the Inner Worlds
by Deena Metzger.Writing as a way of learning about yourself, healing yourself: body, mind and spirit.
2. How to Suppress Women's Writing
by Joanna Russ.Feminist look at writing, from the author of The Female Man, a look at how culture tries to suppress women's writing. And how to dare to write, anyway.
3. The Writing Life
by Annie Dillard.Her writing often seems so seamless, yet she puts a great deal of agony and effort into it. What's it like to be a writer? And what does she learn from this exploration? One gem: "What could you say to a dying person that would not enrage by its triviality?"
4. Dancing at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Words, Women, Places
by Ursula K. Le Guin.I experience Le Guin's writing as a kind of dance, so this title seems to me especially appropriate. Fantasy and pragmatic living, dancing with each other. This is more about the effect of writing on self and society, and ponders not just writing but what it's like to be literate and an active agent in one's own life and in the world.
5. Man-Made Language
by Dale Spender.This one's not so much about writing as a personal journey, but about how the English language reinforces a male perspective on life, and how women's ways of speaking are devalued. The second edition is from 1990 but it's still a valuable read.
This one's hard to find; try a library if you can't find a used copy.
