What's your favorite writing craft book of all time?
Over the years, I’ve read a number of books devoted to the craft of writing. As you might imagine, many have been helpful (to me), while others haven’t, but even in those less worthwhile volumes, I think I’ve always been able to find at least a nugget or two of valuable writing wisdom.
As with most things in life, you need to be careful about what advice to follow (but it doesn’t hurt to listen and read widely).
On Monday, Meredith mentioned two of my favorite books:
On Writing, by Stephen King
And Bird by Bird, by Ann Lamott (although I would classify this as being more of an inspirational writing book than a craft book).
Let me add a few (random) others:
For those wanting to pen a best-seller:
How to Write Best Selling Fiction, by Dean Koontz
A long (long) time ago, back before I even really wanted to be a writer, I picked up a book by Dean Koontz (one of my favorite authors at the time), mapping out how to become a best-seller. For some reason, it’s out of print now, but you can pick up a used copy on Amazon for a mere $68.
For those wanting to write a “breakout” novel:
Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass
This book also has an accompanying workbook (which I haven’t used).
For those who have trouble differentiating writing in summary versus writing in scenes:
Scene & Structure, by Jack Bickham
When I first started writing fiction, I didn’t know what I was doing. This book helped (a lot!).
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APPEARANCE NEWS
Want to see ten crime writers, in person, reading their work, AT A BAR?
D.C. area folks will have that chance, this Sunday night at the inaugural D.C. Noir, 8 p.m. at The Wonderland Ballroom. Meredith, Art, and I, along with seven other great writers (Nik Korpon, Steve Weddle, Ed Aymar, Tom Kaufman, Don Lafferty, Tara Laskowski, and Michael R. Underwood), will take turns reading and schmoozing. Come on by—a good time will be had by all.
(This blog entry is “simul-posted” on Criminal Minds.)
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