BOOKS ON WRITING

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Hi, friends! Here are some books on writing that I've found useful over the years. I hope you will too.

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Writing

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  1. On Writing by Stephen King. I read this just for the pleasure of his story-telling. But there's a pretty helpful harangue about adverbs that I found life-changing, too.

  2. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. Well, this one is just a classic.

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Plotting

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  1. Writing Irresistible Kidlit: the Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers by Mary Cole. This book is particularly helpful for plotting and pacing problems - even if you're not writing Y.A.

  2. Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee. This is about scriptwriting, but plotting for films requires even more discipline (since you're working with less time!), so I found it very helpful.

  3. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. This is a classic book about film script plotting. Like McKee's book, it's still helpful for plotting in general, even if you're not writing a script. Apparently, there is also one that is specifically geared towards novels.

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Revising!

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  1. Revision & Self-Editing: Techniques for Transforming Your First Draft Into a Finished Novel by James Scott Bell. This book is a deep-dive checklist for revisions. You can do it A-Z or focus on the sections that are most relevant to you.

  2. The Last Draft: A Novelist's Guide to Revision by Sandra Scofield. Like #2, this guides you through the revision process from plot to textual level polish.