Writer Recommended: Books on Writing
As an aspiring author, I’ve spent a fair amount of time reading. A lot of what I read is fiction, of course—books for my college classes, books for fun, books for research—but there’s an important category of books that I believe aspiring authors should look into: writing books.
Books on writing, particularly those by published authors and members of the publishing industry such as agents and editors, often offer a perspective that aspiring authors need: advice from both those who were successful and those who helped make them successful. But there are a lot of writing books out there (if you were to look up “how to write a book” on Amazon’s bookstore, for instance, you’d get over 50,000 results), and sorting through them can be at best complicated and at worse impossible. With that in mind, I’d like to share five of the best writing books I’ve read, and whether I think you should read them, too.
The books mentioned in this article are:
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
My own copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, which I’ve filled with Post-It Notes marking the passages I refer to most often.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel was the very first writing book I bought, and with good reason. Based on the Save the Cat! series by Blake Snyder, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel explains the Save the Cat Beat Sheet method of outlining a novel, as well as showing how several well-known novels follow the method (whether the authors knew they were or not) and ten universal story genres that can help you figure out how your particular story works.
I recommend Save the Cat! Writes a Novel to anyone who is an avid planner (someone who outlines and plots out their novel before writing) who appreciates a strict structural approach to writing, like me. However, for pantsers (someone who finds their novel’s outline as they go along, or writes “by the seat of their pants”), this book may be too strict.
Also, the Save the Cat fifteen-point Beat Sheet method is one of many, many different writing methods and outlines. If this particular outline doesn’t suit you, don’t worry! There’s a whole lot more out there, and one may be a better fit—or maybe none of them will, and that’s fine, too.
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
Story Engineering is truly a book on writing. Rather than focusing on a particular aspect of writing, as books like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel does, Story Engineering focuses on the Six Core Competencies of Writing—what Brooks considers the six essential pieces of every successful piece of writing, whether a novel, short story, or screenplay.
Story Engineering is less strict than Save the Cat!, and emphasizes that what you learn can be applied to any method of writing. However, Story Engineering is also a book that firmly favors planners over pantsers—in fact, one of the author’s core messages is that his book may convince pantsers to become planners, or at least plansters (a hybrid between planners and pantsers). Story Engineering is also written in a style much more favorable to logical thinkers, and though it doesn’t follow nearly as strict of a progression as Save the Cat!, it is still very structured.
Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer
If you aren’t a fan of the highly structured approach of Story Engineering, you’re firmly a fantasy/science fiction writer who would prefer a writing book more focused on the non-realistic side of writing, or you think most writing books are boring, then Wonderbook is something I highly recommend you check out.
Unlike the majority of writing books, Wonderbook is illustrated with hundreds of diagrams, photographs, and surreal artworks. Wonderbook, like Story Engineering, covers the overall writing process rather than a specific portion, but that’s where the similarities end. Wonderbook uses its illustrations, along with writing exercises and essays from famous authors like Neil Gaiman and George R. R. Martin, to help the reader understand and become comfortable with the tricky world of speculative fiction—although the author emphasizes that Wonderbook‘s lessons can be adapted to any style of writing.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Bird by Bird isn’t a writing book in the traditional sense, in that it has almost nothing to do with the actual act of writing. Unlike the previous three books on this list, Bird by Bird doesn’t set out to teach you about structure, character, and plot. Instead, this book contains a series of essays by author Anne Lamott about her own experiences, both as a writer and as a human being. Bird by Bird is less a book on writing than a book for writers, with chapters on accepting your first draft for what it is and getting through the rough phase of editing and revising.
If you’re looking for a book that tells you that whatever you’re feeling about your writing is alright (and you aren’t opposed to dark humor and a fair amount of cursing), and you’d rather figure out the rest on your own, then Bird by Bird is definitely a recommended read.
Master Lists for Writers by Bryn Donovan
Like Bird by Bird, Master Lists for Writers isn’t really a book on writing—but it isn’t a book about writers, either. Instead, this is more of a reference book. Master Lists for Writers contains about a hundred different lists, on topics ranging from descriptions of facial expressions to common last names in the US. Rather than a book to be read through, Master Lists for Writers is designed to be picked up when needed, whether for inspiration before you start a story or to diversify your descriptions in the editing phase.
Because Master Lists is a writer reference book, it holds no opinions on what you write or how you do it. Instead, it’s an invaluable book for any aspiring author to have on hand, no matter where in the writing process they are.
An example spread from Master Lists for Writers
Starting out as an aspiring author can be tough, and many of us turn to writing books to lighten the load or get a head start. But with the number of books on writing out there, it can be daunting to try to find one that works for you. I hope that you found at least one new book to read from this list—and if not, let me know! This is only some of the many writing books I’ve read, and I’m sure that together, we can find one that works for you.
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