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Feb 14, 2018 · 13 Novels Every Writer Must Read — Kevin T. Johns, Writing Coach. 13 Novels Every Writer Absolutely Must Read — The Writing Coach 060. kevintjohns@gmail.com. February 14, 2018. Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their ...
- Books About Becoming A Writer
- Books About Language and Style
- Books About Story Structure
- Books About Overcoming Obstacles as A Writer
- Books About Writing as A Lifestyle and Career
- Books on Writing Poetry
- Books About Writing Nonfiction
1. On Writing by Stephen King
Perhaps the most-cited book on this list, On Writingis part-memoir, part-masterclass from one of America’s leading authors. Come for the vivid accounts of his childhood and youth — including his extended "lost weekend" spent on alcohol and drugs in the 1980s. Stay for the actionable advice on how to use your emotions and experiences to kickstart your writing, hone your skills, and become an author. Among the many craft-based tips are King’s expert takes on plot, story, character, and more. Fr...
2. The Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig
If you haven’t checked out Wendig’s personal blog, head over there now and bookmark it. Unfiltered, profane, and almost always right, Wendig has become a leading voice among online writing communities in the past few years. In The Kick-Ass Writer, he offers over 1,000 pearls of wisdom for authors, ranging from express writing tips to guidance on getting published. Written to be read in short bursts, we’re sure he’d agree that this is the perfect bathroom bookfor writers. From the book: “I hav...
3. Find Your Voice by Angie Thomas
Taking advice from famous authors is not about imitation, but about finding your own voice. Take it from someone who knows: Thomas is the New York Times #1 Bestselling author of The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose. While she’s found her calling in YA literature, she has plenty of insight into finding your own voice in your genre of choice. Written in the form of a guided journal, this volume comes with step-by-step instructions, writing prompts, and exercises especially aimed a...
7. Dreyer’s English by Benjamin Dreyer
A staple book about writing well, Dreyer’s Englishserves as a one-stop guide to proper English, based on the knowledge that Dreyer — a senior copy editor at Random House — has accumulated throughout his career. From punctuation to tricky homophones, passive voice, and commas, the goal of these tools should be to facilitate effective communication of ideas and thoughts. Dreyer delivers this and then some, but not without its due dosage of humor and informative examples. From the book: “A good...
8. The Elements of Style (Illustrated) by William Strunk, Jr., E. B. White, and Maira Kalman
A perfect resource for visual learners, this illustrated edition of The Elements of Style has taken the classic style manual to a new, more accessible level but kept its main tenet intact: make every word tell. The written content by Strunk and White has long been referred to as an outline of the basic principles of style. Maira Kalman’s illustrations elevate the experience and make it a feast for both the mind and the eye. From the book: “A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a par...
9. Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale
If you’re looking to bring a bit of spunk into your writing, copy editor Constance Hale may hold the key. Whether you’re writing a work-related email or the next rap anthem, she has one goal: to make creative communication available to everyone by dispelling old writing myths and making every word count. Peppered with writing prompts and challenges, this book will have you itching to put pen to paper. From the book:“Verbose is not a synonym for literary.”
12. Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder
Best known as a screenwriting manual, Save the Cat! is just as often named by authors as one of their most influential books about writing. The title comes from the tried-and-true trope of the protagonist doing something heroic in the first act (such as saving a cat) in order to win over the audience. Yes, it might sound trite to some — but others swear by its bulletproof beat sheet. More recently, there has been Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, which tailors its principles specifically to the l...
13. The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne
Shawn Coyne is a veteran editor with over 25 years of publishing experience, and he knows exactly what works and what doesn’t in a story — indeed, he’s pretty much got it down to a science. The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know outlines Coyne’s original “Story Grid” evaluation technique, which both writers and editors can use to appraise, revise, and ultimately improve their writing (in order to get it ready for publication). Coyne and his friend Tim Grahl also co-host the acclaimed Story Gr...
14. Story Structure Architect by Victoria Schmidt
For those who find the idea of improvising utterly terrifying and prefer the security of structures, this book breaks down just about every kind of story structure you’ve ever heard of. Victoria Schmidt offers no less than fifty-five different creative paths for your story to follow — some of which are more unconventional, or outright outlandish than others. The level of detail here is pretty staggering: Schmidt goes into the various conflicts, subplots, and resolutions these different story...
18. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Like Stephen King’s book about writing craft, this work from acclaimed novelist and nonfiction writer Anne Lamott also fuses elements of a memoir with invaluable advice on the writer’s journey. Particularly known for popularizing the concept of “shitty first drafts”, Bird by Bird was recently recommended by editor Jennifer Hartmann in her Reedsy Live webinarfor its outlook take on book writing. She said, “This book does exactly what it says it will do: it teaches you to become a better writer...
19. Take Off Your Pants by Libbie Hawker
Of all the titles on this list, Take Off Your Pants has to be the most eye-catching. But rather than remarking on the joys of working from home, this title actually alludes to being a pantser: a writer who dives straight into their draft with little more than an idea. Hawker doesn’t dissuade writers from “pantsing,” but does note that some sense of structure tends to help, at least in her experience. This book details her process for planning a story, offering various tools and techniques for...
20. Writing into the Dark by Dean Wesley Smith
And for those who eschew structure altogether, we’ll now refer you to this title from profile science fiction author Dean Wesley Smith. Having authored a number of official Star Treknovels, he definitely knows what he’s talking about when he encourages writers to go boldly into the unknown with an approach to writing books that doesn’t necessarily involve an elaborate plan. It might not be your action plan, but it can be a fresh perspective to get out of the occasional writer’s block. From th...
24. Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
As Kleon notes in the first section of Steal Like an Artist, this title obviously doesn’t refer to plagiarism. Rather, it acknowledges that art cannot be created in a vacuum, and encourages writers (and all other artists) to be open and receptive to all sources of inspiration. By “stealing like an artist,” writers can construct stories that already have a baseline of familiarity for readers, but with new twists that keep them fresh and exciting. From the book: “If we’re free from the burden o...
25. Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison
The full title of this work, Mouth Full of Blood: Essays, Speeches, Meditations, gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect from one of the most influential and important voices in modern literature. In this collection, the late Nobel Prize winner comments on race, art, and politics over the course of four decades, and offers invaluable insight into the craft as well as the powerful potential of writing. Revisiting and reassessing some of her most famous titles, Morrison discusses revisio...
26. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
No matter what stage you’re at in your writing career, Goldberg’s Writing Down the Boneswill help you write more skillfully and creatively. With suggestions, encouragement, and valuable advice on the many aspects of the writing craft, Goldberg doesn’t shy away from making the crucial connection between writing and adding value to your life. Covering a range of topics including taking notes of your initial thoughts, listening, overcoming doubt, choosing where to write, and the selection of you...
32. Madness, Rack, and Honey by Mary Ruefle
With a long history of crafting and lecturing about poetry, Ruefle invites the reader of Madness, Rack, and Honeyto immerse themselves into its beauty and magic. In a powerful combination of lectures and musings, she expertly explores the mind and craft of writers while excavating the magical potential of poetry. Often a struggle between giving and taking, poetry is, according to Ruefle, a unique art form that reveals the innermost workings of the human heart. From the book: “In one sense, re...
33. Threads by Sandeep Parmar, Nisha Ramayya, and Bhanu Kapil
If you’re looking for something that explores the philosophical aspects of writing, Threads asks big questions about writing and the position of the writer in an industry that has largely excluded marginalized voices. Where does the writer exist in relation to its text and, particularly in the case of poetry, who is the “I”? Examining the common white, British, male lens, this collection of short essays will make it hard for you not to critically consider your own perceptions and how they aff...
34. The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner
Despite its eye-catching title, this short essayis actually a defense of poetry. Lerner begins with his own hatred of the art form, and then moves on to explore this love-hate dichotomy that actually doesn’t seem to be contradictory. Rather, such a multitude of emotions might be one of the reasons that writers and readers alike turn to it. With its ability to evoke feelings and responses through word-play and meter, poetry has often been misconceived as inaccessible and elitist; this is a cal...
37. On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Going strong with its 30th-anniversary edition, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfictionis an evergreen resource for nonfiction writers which breaks down the fundamental principles of written communication. As a bonus, the insights and guidelines in this book can certainly be applied to most forms of writing, from interviewing to camp-fire storytelling. Beyond giving tips on how to stay consistent in your writing and voice, how to edit, and how to avoid common pitfalls, Zinsse...
38. Essays by Lydia Davis
Ironically enough, this rather lengthy bookis a celebration of brevity. As one of the leading American voices in flash-fiction and short-form writing, Davis traces her literary roots and inspirations in essays on everything, ranging from the mastodonic work of Proust to minimalism. In both her translations and her own writing, she celebrates experimental writing that stretches the boundaries of language. Playing with the contrast between what is said and what is not, this collection of essays...
39. Essayism by Brian Dillon
In this volume, Dillon explores the often overlooked genre of essay writing and its place in literature’s past, present, and future. He argues that essays are an “experiment in attention” but also highlights how and why certain essays have directly impacted the development of the cultural and political landscape, from the end of the Middle Ages until the present day. At its heart, despite its many forms, subject areas, and purposes, essayism has its root in self-exploration. Dip in and out of...
Nov 25, 2021 · Words matter and Handley shows you why. 6. Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott. Full of brilliant writing advice, Lamott talks candidly about the writing process. She introduces the idea of terrible first drafts, which basically means even when you feel like you can’t write, just get the thoughts down on paper.
The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers. by Betsy Lerner. This book provides valuable insights into the editorial process and offers practical advice on how to work with editors and agents to get your work published. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. by Anne Lamott.
- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (Goodreads Author)
- Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg.
Aug 24, 2017 · Here are 50 nuggets of writing wisdom from some of the greatest authors of all time: “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups ...
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Jan 5, 2023 · Bec Evans, Chris Smith, Oliver Burkeman (Foreword) 4.21. 211 ratings42 reviews. Written is a transformative guide that anyone can use to overcome their blocks and build a successful writing habit. Many people think that there's only one 'right' way to get the writing done - or that trying harder is the key. Award-winning writers, productivity ...
