A few years back, when I began to get serious about the craft of writing, I poured over instruction books. Some were good, some were a waste of time, but a few contained exactly the right piece of information I needed to understand whatever thorny craft problem I struggled with. None of them substituted for writing often and long – the best tool I have found to learn how to write. But when I get stuck, I still go back to a few of these helpful guides:
- The War of Art – Every writer struggles with resistance. Resistance to sitting down in front of the computer, to writing the next line, to revising that difficult chapter, to sending out that first (or fiftieth) query letter. Steven Pressfield’s book taught me how to identify and conquer resistance by acknowledging it, refusing to fight it, moving past it, and doing the task at hand no matter how much the forces of resistance want me to give up. His method is like aikido for your inner demons. Nothing makes resistance go away for good, but Pressfield’s book gives you a weapon to use against it.
- Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott’s gently humorous guide to the writing life is both a practical handbook of how to overcome common writing problems like perfectionism and a warm voice of companionship on lonely nights of writing and re-writing. Lamott makes it okay to write “shitty first drafts”, to feel jealous of other writers’ successes, to fail over and over until you succeed. Her tips on how to silence the critical voices in your head long enough to get a first draft done made this book one of my favorites.
- Immediate Fiction – A few years back I struggled with the old “show, don’t tell” thing. Sure, I understood the theory, but I had trouble applying it in my own work, or so a few plain-speaking critiquers told me. Then writer/editor Michelle Scott recommended Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver, and I “got” it. Cleaver explained “show, don’t tell” in a way that I could apply to my own work. He also does a bang-up job of showing how to describe emotion. Immediate Fiction is the best book I’ve found for these two elements of writing.
- The Fire in Fiction – Donald Maass’ classic book on adding depth and passion to your novel has much to add to any writer’s repertoire of techniques, but my favorite takeaway is the concept of a scene’s turning points. A turning point is the exact point in the scene where change takes place, either for the reader (an outer turning point), or the POV character (an inner turning point). Using Maass’ techniques, I began to re-craft troublesome scenes around turning points and voila! those troublesome scenes became magical.
What are your favorite books on writing, and why? Leave me a comment below and share a few.
Not that I’m writing the way that you are, but I do write comedy and sketches from time-to-time, so here goes an unusual list:
I’ve always enjoyed Rita Mae Brown’s Starting from Scratch, which I found not only full of practical information but an entertaining read.
Speaking of entertaining and on the subject of comedic writing, Judy Carter’s Stand-Up Comedy Book is full of insights on the nature of humor and how to take something that is mildly humorous and turn it on its head.
Not that it’s about writing, but about breaking patterns and bringing creativity and collaboration to new levels, Keith Johnstone’s Impro is a fantastic read (but even better when put into practice — if you can find some folks to do Improv with in your area). I think Improv is a wonderful tool, not only for actors, but for storytellers of all sorts.
And along those lines, as an actor/performer, I’ve found the following indispensible and I know a great many writers who’ve also found use in some of the ideas here with regard to developing characters and bringing scenes to life, Michael Shurtleff’s Audition. His 12 Guideposts are great ideas at finding new ways to look at scene when you are having difficulties in making it work.
I thought you and some of your readers (er, writers) might appreciate this alternate perspective and what might stretch them into new areas of exploration.
Great post, Janet. I’ve read all of those but the Immediate Fiction and I’m going to add that to my wishlist. My favorite book on writing isn’t about writing so much as the writer and the process of sitting down to write. When I first picked up Dorothea Brande’s On Becoming A Writer, I immediately fell in love with her voice. It felt like she was speaking directly to me across the years (And it doesn’t feel a bit dated!)
Great list Janet! I have Maass and Lamont, but not the others.
. It’s not a quick read, and I have highlights and post it’s all over it; but each time I read it I learn something new 
One book that I think really has alot to offer is Techniques of a Selling Writer by Dwight Swain- older book- like 1960′s I think- but you can tell where alot of today’s writing books came from
Hi Marc! I found Impro to be very useful to me as a writer, esp. the parts on status – quite applicable to dialog. Thanks for telling me about it a few months back. Haven’t read the others but they sound great. I recently picked up an interesting book called Getting into Character – Seven Secrets a Novelist can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins. Haven’t read it yet but it looks interesting.
Hi Kristen – thanks for stopping by. I haven’t read On Becoming a Writer but it sounds great! I love the books that inspire me to keep writing.
Hi Marie! Sometimes the older ones are the best ones! I’ll have to check out Techniques of a Selling Writer.
Janet,
Of your 4 favorites, I’ve only read Bird by Bird. So now I have 3 other books to check out. Books that have helped me include Elizabeth George’s Write Away and Carolyn Wheat’s How to Write Killer Fiction.
Thanks for sharing your favorites.
John
Great list Janet!!!
I like Goal Motivation Conflict by Deb Dixon, and I also really like Ray Bradbury’s Zen and the Art of Writing… It’s uplifting, and I think we need that often in this business! LOL
Hope that helps…
Lisa
I love Bird by Bird! Also Stephen King’s On Writing. And as Lisa said, Bradbury’s Zen and the Art of Writing… Thanks for the recommendations, Janet. Onward!