Written by contributor Christina ‘DZA’ Marie
Writing is a difficult skill that one constantly has to improve on, even after getting published. Luckily, there are a variety of resources to help with that journey: writers’ groups, mentors, YouTube videos, Skillshare, and of course, books about writing.
These are the books that I’ve read and have found to be the most useful to my writing career and they’re also good for any author of any genre!
On Writing by Stephen King
Half autobiography, half writing advice, On Writing gives us an inside look into the king of horror’s process to writing bestselling novels. Some of his general rules are: write at least 1000 words a day (it sounds like a lot, but it’s easier than you think), do at least two drafts per manuscript, and avoid adverbs whenever possible.
We also see how he worked through personal problems. Not just his famous drug and alcohol addiction, but how writing Carrie pulled him out of poverty. But it wouldn’t have if his wife hadn’t pulled the manuscript from the trash can and helped edit it.
Critique partners and beta readers are important!
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
The Writer’s Journey focuses on two big fields of writing: the hero’s journey and its associated eight character archetypes. Vogler worked in Hollywood for a long time, and specifically helped with the creation of The Lion King, as well as a few other classic films. He uses them and several others as examples for every step of the hero’s journey and the eight character archetypes, as well as when those steps can be skipped or moved.
This is a great place to start if you’re doing an adventure-type of story and are having a hard time pinning down the structure. It’s especially good for dealing with “saggy middle syndrome,” that is, when your story starts and ends well, but is bogged down in the middle with no clear direction. That’s not going to happen with The Writer’s Journey.
The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne
Yet another good book for tackling story structure specifically, The Story Grid gives authors a very valuable, often neglected viewpoint on their manuscript: that of the editor.
Editors are strange, mysterious creatures that are feared from everyone in the writing community. But they also have valuable insight to make your manuscript shine. Coyne shows us what editors look for when they’re evaluating a novel and how to fix any mistakes you find.
The best part about this book is that all of the information is online. The Story Grid is a website with several articles on story and structure. While they’re put together in a flowing, comprehensive manner in the book, it’s almost copy-and-paste what you can find online.
Save the Cat! Writers a Novel: the Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody
It’s not the last book, but it is something that should be on your bookshelf.
The first Save the Cat! book was for screenwriters. Jessica Brody took the lessons from that book and transferred them to novelists. It’s almost an extension of The Story Grid, in terms of how it views story structure.
Save the Cat! breaks the story down into its smallest measurement: the beat. Any time there’s a change in your story—a character gets introduced, information about the plot is revealed, someone loses or gains something—that’s a beat. Brody presents the Beat Sheet, a beat-by-beat guide that she claims all good stories follow, from modern movies to classic literature.
You could try to prove her wrong, but following the beat sheet made several of my manuscripts a lot better, so I wouldn’t advise it.
The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing: Everything You need to know to Create and Sell Your Work by the Editors of Writer’s Digest
This book is a collection of essays from established authors, from Stephen King to Orson Scott Card to George R. R. Martin. It covers every part of the novel-writing process, from getting ideas to characters to editing.
Then it goes beyond that, devoting a large section of the book to landing an agent and publishing contract. It’s an often neglected part of the novel process, but they go into great depth here.
I love it because, if I’m having problems with a specific aspect of a story or stage of writing, I can go straight to the proper section for help.
