A living collection of the books, essays, and tools that have shaped how I write. I’ll keep adding as I find more. Have a favorite? Tell me in the comments.
Books
On Writing by Stephen King
This is one of my craft book staples that I’ve read more times than I can remember. It’s part memoir and part toolbox. King shares how he became a writer: rejection slips speared on a nail in his bedroom wall, drafting Carrie in a trailer’s laundry room, and the lean years before success. One of the biggest reasons I balk at craft book recommendations is because, more often than not, they strip away the joy of writing. What you’re left with is a verbose list of do’s and don’ts that rarely resonate with what you’re trying to achieve within your own writing practice. He also shares practical advice: read constantly, write every day, and you become very familiar with his hatred of adverbs. What stays with me is how unpretentious it feels, like advice from a working writer if you sat down to a working lunch with them. Whatever you write, it will make you want to sit down and work. It also made me like and respect King as a person too.
The hyperlink above goes to a free PDF copy of the book. I highly recommend you download it for later.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
This was the first craft book I picked up even before I could barely read or write. I had the first-edition copy a lifetime ago, and it resonated with my much younger self, who realized in first grade that I wanted to become a writer. What would I write about? That took a long time to puzzle out. Lamott makes you believe you can become a writer. She is funny and kind about the hard work that goes into writing. She goes over the pitfalls of perfectionism, jealousy of others’ work, how to handle self-doubt, and the necessity of terrible first drafts. Her advice is small and doable: write only what fits in a one-inch picture frame. This is always a great place to start.
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
This is something I come back to over and over, and it has also been recommended to me ad nauseam. If I had to describe this book in one sentence, it would be this: the best writing teacher is already on your shelf. Prose reminds us to slow down and observe what we’re reading. Read word by word and sentence by sentence, and ask yourself why a writer made each choice. This book is helpful because it’s not prescriptive. It reminds you of the power of paying attention. She ends with a list of “Books to Be Read Immediately,” which could keep you busy for years. We all have a TBR list longer than Martin Luther’s proclamation nailed to a door, so her recommendations are a treat.
