On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time. ON WRITING lets us writers know we’re not alone in the agony and ecstasy of our craft. Any level of writer will reap the benefits of this book. I listened to the audio version narrated by Stephen King himself, and I highly recommend it.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
Jessica Brody provides simple plotting principals and applies them to the craft of novel writing in a “workshop style” guide. SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL will help you better understand the fundamental tools and mechanics of plot, character transformation, and what makes a story work. This book is helpful to all levels of writers. It is hands-down the most helpful book on craft I’ve read.
Outline Your Novel
Outline Your Novel will take your story from concept to finished draft. King shows us how structure works and how to use that structure to make and follow an outline. This book is great for pantsers like me who need to infuse some organization into their process.
Newsletter Ninja
We all know we must have a mailing list. In NEWSLETTER NINJA, Labreque teaches us how to build and maintain an engaged list of fans. She shows us how to take our newsletter to the next level. I found it immensely helpful and easy to understand and a great tool for starting my list.
Creating Character ARCs
Another great resource for craft. Weiland shows us how to delve deeper into our characters. She provides an extremely helpful beat-by-beat checklist of character arc guidelines that fit in any type of story. I found this book extremely useful. I also love K.M. Weiland’s blog and podcast, HELPING WRITERS BECOME AUTHORS.
