Books about Writing

Writing is definitely a learned skill. While a lot of the writing skill is self taught through practice, it’s also incredibly helpful to learn from other writers. And fortunately, there are many writers who are willing to share their tricks of the trade with you. Today I’ve decided to give you some of the writing resource books that I’ve found most useful.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

I first encountered this book as an editing minor at BYU. We used it as the text book for our substantive editing class. This book has received quite a bit of hype, and I think it lives up to it. It has great use of concrete examples to illustrate points. This really is one of the best books for identifying problems that many beginning writers encounter.

Surviving First Drafts

Writing a first draft is a complete roller coaster. If you’re like me, you have a plethora of manuscripts that you started and never finished because you lost steam or you started chasing a shiny new idea. This book is all about giving you strategies to actually get those drafts done. Also, Erica is pretty funny. So that makes it a fun read.

Paper Hearts

There are three books in the Paper Hearts series. Admittedly, I’ve only read the second, which is publishing advice. I loved that book, though, and I can’t wait to read the other two books in the series (which are about writing and marketing). The publishing book covered a lot of ground, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wondering how to get a book out into the world.

Refilling Your Inkwell

Everyone experiences writers block sometimes. It’s especially frustrating when you experience a prolonged case of it. I recommend this book to anyone whose found themselves in a writing rut and wants to get out.

Those are some of my favorites, but I know there are lots of other great writing books out there. Let me know what some of your favorites are!