Books for Writers
One Writer’s Beginnings Eudora Welty
Starting from Scratch Rita Mae Brown
Bird by Bird Anne Lamont
The Writing Life Annie Dillard
Of Faith and Fiction: Twelve American Writers Talk about Their Vision andWork W. Dale Brown
Writing for the Soul Jerry B. Jenkins
A Novel Idea ed. by Olson, Sjogren, Smith
The Art of War for Writers James Scott Bell
Plot & Structure James Scott Bell
The Fire in Fiction Donald Maass
Writer’s Guide to Character Traits Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers Renni Browne and Dave King
The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction Jeff Gerke
The Moral Premise Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D.
Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View Jill Elizabeth Nelson
Beginnings, Middles, & Ends Nancy Kress
The Emotion Thesaurus Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
The Positive Trait Thesaurus Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
The Negative Trait Thesaurus Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
Tips about reading for writing:
- Don’t just skim through these listed books. Read slowly and highlight. Then go back and make notes from the highlights. You can revisit those notes from time to time for a tune-up.
- Some of these books are craft books—the how-tos of writing a sentence or a paragraph or a scene or a chapter or a whole book. Some books give insights into the writing life of a certain author. Read both kinds.
Read tons of books in the genre you want to write in. Find a favorite author and read those books. Read them again. Make notes about what he does and how she does what when. Discern what makes you keep turning the pages.
