Essential Writing Books

On Becoming a Novelist and The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner: John Gardner, in addition to being a widely acclaimed writer, was a renowned teacher of the craft. His books are concise, no-nonsense approaches to fiction writing, and the practicalities of the writing life. Moreover, success came to him relatively late, and he has a huge amount of empathy for beginners and late-bloomers. If you want to save what it would cost you to attend a writers’ workshop, buy these books.

 Poetics, Aristotle: Every storyteller owes a debt to Aristotle, whether they know it or now. Perhaps the first writer to deconstruct what it means to tell a story, there is a reason Poetics is a time-honored classic, and will remain so for as long as books are in print.

 On Writing, Stephen King: It is a little-known fact that King’s first efforts were widely rejected. On Writing chronicles the vacillations of his career in literary and genre fiction. Despite what you may think of the kind of writing he does, this is an excellent memoir of a writer who has dedicated his life to the craft.

 Writing Life, Ann Dillard: Where the male writers on this list hone in on craft, Dillard is an expert at communicating the poetics of writing and the abstract, unexplainable thing people refer to as inspiration.

 Dramatic Writing, Lajos Egri: Written for playwrights, this book lays down an easily understood theory of dramatic structure.

 Story, Robert McKee: Primarily for screenwriters, but useful for commercial fiction, this is a structure bible. McKee helps you really explore what the word ‘character’ means, a well as how to craft a dynamic and fast-moving narrative.

 Strunk and White: the Elements of Style, William Strunk and EB White: You can’t read this book too many times. Strunk and White is the simplest, most widely used style guide in America. After all, you need good tools to craft a fine piece of work.