The books on writing that are worth your time (and money)
Having a selection of books about writing is useful, but they’re not all good for the same reasons (and some aren’t good at all)
We’ve all done it. The best of intentions hereby lay in the unopened pages of a book about writing books. Four novels in, I have—without fail—bought a new writing manual right before starting a first draft. Sometimes I’ll buy another when I get to the editing stage. I think I’ve read maybe… twenty at this point? Each one promises to make the process easier, quicker, and more efficient. Do they ever work? Not in their entirety, but there are some that have clunked a cog in my brain, or shown me down a side route towards a better story that I wasn’t expecting.
Have I spent time reading about writing whenI actually should have been writing myself? Yes! I only know the Hermione Grainger approach to learning, so you have to let me have that one. The benefit here is that I can save you time by steering you in the right direction when you need help with something specific. Dialogue sound clunky? I know a book for that! Lost the motivation for your manuscript? I got you! Point of view a pain in your arse? There’s a lil’ writing prompt amongst these gems that will help!
Books on writing craft are like clocks. Half are about the mechanics of how writing works: the cogs, bolts, ticking hands, and glue that holds it all together. The other half are less concerned with the material and more concerned with the metaphysical: what even is time? How do we relate to it? What does it make us feel? Both have their purpose, because after all, sometimes we need to zoom in when we write and sometimes we need to zoom out. In this list, I’ve included both. Hopefully, you’ll find it useful. Even better, I might save you some time (and money).