A List of Books on Writing : This is a very common ask at panels and workshops, and today, that’s what we’re going to talk about.
Over at Nathan Bransford’s blog, there’s a post that has generated a lot of comments recommending books on writing. I do possess a few of those mentioned, and although I don’t think books on writing fiction are the ultimate answer to a writer’s needs (indeed, what is?), I’m convinced they’re a valuable resource.
While looking at the comments, I itched for a formatted list of the titles and authors, and then I thought, why not compile one? I can use it, and others can use it when searching for books on writing.
Not all are “how to” books–some are author memoirs, others are biographies, and some deal with screenplay– not all books would suit every writer. But this is a handy list, which could be a good resource for people trying to search for a book on writing.
I apologize for the shoddy formatting, and also if I missed out a few books or repeated some from Nathan Bransford’s blog comments. Please point out any errors, and I’ll correct them. Also, I’m afraid the books are not categorized according to any particular theme right now, but I think I will take that on eventually.
I’ll also link the books to the online bookstores/reviews etc. as time goes on, but for the moment here is the List of Books on Writing:
- How to write science Fiction and Fantasy Orson Scott Card
- Eats Shoots and Leaves Lynn Truss
- Bird by bird Anne Lamott
- On Writing Stephen King
- Character and Viewpoint Orson Scott Card
- If you want to write Brenda Ueland
- The Elements of Style Strunk and White
- The Art of Fiction John Gardner
- The Writer’s Art James Kilpatrick
- Story Robert McKee
- Emotional Structure Peter Dunne
- 45 Master Characters Victoria Schmidt
- Goal, motivation and conflict Debra Dixon
- The Right to Write Julia Cameron
- Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel Jane Smiley
- Writing In General & the Short Story In Particular L Rust Hills
- The Power of Point of View A. Rasley
- How Fiction Works James Wood
- Between the Lines Jessica Page Morrell
- Words Overflown Stars Vermont College MFA
- The First Five Pages Noah Lukeman
- Self Editing For Fiction Writers Renni Browne Dave King
- Ron Carlson Writes a Story Ron Carlson
- Save the Cat Blake Snyder
- The Plot Thickens Noah Lukeman
- Creativity Rules John Vorhaus
- Writing Down the Bones Natalie Goldberg
- Rewrite Right! Jan Venolia
- Plot and Structure & Revision And Self-Editing James Scott Bell
- Dynamic Characters Nancy Kress
- Steering the Craft Ursula K LeGuin
- Writing the Breakout Novel Donald Maass
- The Art of Fiction Ayn Rand
- The Artist’s Way Julia Cameron
- 10 Rules of Good Writing Elmore Leonard
- Make Your Words Work Gary Provost
- The Well-fed Writer Peter Bowerman
- Plot Ansen Dibell
- Writing the Novel From Plot to Print Lawrence Block
- Stein On Writing Sol Stein
- The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers Christopher Vogler
- Write away Elizabeth George
- The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice for Writers Betsy Lerner
- The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Vol1 Dave Law & Darin Park
- Writing Mysteries Sue Grafton
- The Anatomy of Story John Truby
- Becoming a Writer Dorothea Brande
- A Writer’s Space Eric Maisel
- Mystery and Manners Flannery OConnor
- The Mind of the Maker Dorothy Sayers
- Walking on Water Madeleine L’engle
- Escaping into the open Elizabeth Berg
- The Spooky Art Norman Mailer
- The Writer’s Chapbook George Plimpton
- Writing the Genre Novel James Joyce
- On Writing Well William Zinssner
- What It Is Lynda Barry
- Screenplay Syd Field
- Revising Fiction David Madden
- The Artful Edit Susan Bell
- Sometimes the Magic Works Terry Brooks
- From Where We Dream Robert Olen Butler
- Story Within Guidebook Alicia Rasley
- Immediate Fiction Jerry Cleaver
- Scene and Structure Jack Bickham
- Settings Jack Bickham
- The Writing Life Annie Dillard
- No Plot? No Problem! Chris Baty
- Write Great Fiction – Dialogue Gloria Kempton
- The Forest for the Trees Betsy Lerner
- For writers only Sophie Burnham
- Your First Novel A.Rittenberg & Laura Whitcomb
- Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom Leonard Marcus
- The Creative Habit Twyla Tharp
- Southern Daughter Darden Asbury Pyron
- Zen in the Art of Writing Ray Bradbury
- A Writer’s Coach Jack Hart
- Manuscript Makeover Elizabeth Lyons
- A Writer’s Guide to Fiction Elizabeth Lyons
- How to write a damn good novel James N Freys
- Reading Like a Writer Francine Proses
- What If? Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
- How not to write a novel Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman
- The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes Jack Bickham
- The insider’s guide to getting an agent Lori Perkins
- Backwards and Forwards David Ball
- First Draft to Finished Novel Karen S Wiesner
- Creating Short Fiction Damon Knight
- The Art of Dramatic Writing Lajos Egri
- Make a Scene Jordan E Rosenfeld
- Don’t Murder Your Mystery Chris Roerden
- In Writing A Novel John Braine
- Finding Your Voice Les Edgerton
- Hooked Les Edgerton
- How to Write Realistic Dialogue Jean Saunders
- The Craft of Writing Romance Jean Saunders
- Writing the Blockbuster Novel Albert Zuckerman
- Twenty Master Plots Ronald B Tobais
- The Fiction Writers’ Handbook Nancy Smith
- Conflict, Action & Suspense William Noble
- Beginnings, Middles & Ends Nancy Kress
- How to Write for Children Tessa Krailing
- How to Write Stories for Magazines Donna Baker
- Creating Characters Dwight V Swain
- How to Get Published and make a lot of Money Susan Page
- Writing to Sell Scott Meredith
- How to Write & Sell True Crime Gary Provost
- Cause of Death: a writer’s guide Keith D Wilson MD
- Techniques of the Selling Writer Dwight V Swain
- The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop Stephen Koch
- Thinking like your editor Alfred Fortunato and Susan Rabiner
- The Lie that tells a Truth John Dufresne
- Fiction Writer’s Workshop Josip Novakovich
- Write is a Verb Bill O’ Hanlon
- Writing Tools Roy Peter Clark
- Word Painting Rebecca McClanahan
- Telling Lies For Fun and Profit Lawrence Block
- Spider, Spin Me a Web Lawrence Block
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Science Fiction Cory Doctorow & Karl Schroeder
- Break Writer’s Block Now! Jerrold Mundis
- The Writer’s Book of Hope Ralph Keyes
- The Courage to Write Ralph Keyes
- Marie Arana. The Writing Life: Writers On How They Think and Work
- Blockbuster Plots Martha Alderson
- The Successful Novelist David Morrell
- Some Writers Deserve to Starve Elaura Niles
- The Describer’s Dictionary David Grambs
- Nail your Novel Roz Morris
If you have any other favorite books on writing that are not on this list, please drop a line in the comment, and I will add it, with credit to you. Finally, if you’ve read some of the books on writing in this list, feel free to comment on whether you found them useful or not, and why.
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Great list.. Becoming a Writer is a great book.
(it is also listed as #47 and #123
Great list, there are so many of these that I haven’t heard of, let alone read. Thanks for posting this!
This list must have taken you ages! Kudos to you.
What an awesome list! I am bookmarking this for sure!
Thank you all! It would be great if the time I spent compiling this list leads to a book that would help you in your writing.
Tara Maya, I’ll add the book right away 🙂
Litgirl01, thankyou! I will be mailing you soon.
Debra, Courtney and Vancouver Dame, thanks for visiting, welcome to my blog, and hope you visit again!
Wow, what a list! This must have taken some effort. Thanks so much!
One of my faves not on your list: The Describer’s Dictionary.
This unique book has specialized words on one side, and beautiful quotes from actual novels on the other. The focus is on description of people, places, and things, with chapters like, “Size, Position, Relation, and Proportion”, “Buildings and Dwellings”, “Hair, Coiffures, Mustaches, and Beards”.
Lovely book. I read it just to get in a mood for writing.
I have a blog award for you to post on your blog…because I love your blog and I read it whenever you post! 🙂 Please email me at [email protected]. I will send you the little pic.
Hmm I am guessing I can try amazon
Thanks
Thank you!!! I will link this post on my blog. 🙂 Eats, Shoots and Leaves is one of my alltime fave books. I had to read it years ago in an editing class. It’s a fun read! 🙂
Great idea, compiling the list of books from Nathan’s blog. It’s a lot easier than having to slog through 200+ comments. Thanks for the effort.