Education

The Best Books About Writing

We are back from our however-many-months-its-been sabatical with one of of the longer lists this site has made. We looked at 35 listicles and came away with more than 450 different books. 59 of those books appeared on more than one list and are featured below. As always, the rest of the books can be found at the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



The Top 59 Books For and About Writing


59) A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry by Mary Oliver

Appears On: 2 Lists
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58) Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster

Appears On: 2 Lists
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57) Daily Rituals: How Artists Work By Mason Currey

Appears On: 2 Lists
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56) First You Write by Joni Rodgers

Appears On: 2 Lists
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55) From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler and Janet Burroway

Appears On: 2 Lists
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54) Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins

Appears On: 2 Lists
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53) How Fiction Works by James Wood

Appears On: 2 Lists
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52) How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One by Stanley Eugene Fish

Appears On: 2 Lists
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51) If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland

Appears On: 2 Lists
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50) Imaginative Writing: The Elements of Craft by Janey Burroway

Appears On: 2 Lists
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49) In the Palm of Your Hand by Steve Kowit

Appears On: 2 Lists
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48) Making Your Own Days by Kenneth Koch

Appears On: 2 Lists
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47) Naked, Drunk and Writing: Shed Your Inhibitions and Craft a Compelling Memoir or Personal Essay by Adair Lara

Appears On: 2 Lists
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46) On Moral Fiction by John Gardner

Appears On: 2 Lists
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45) One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer’s Art and Craft by Susan M. Tiberghien

Appears On: 2 Lists
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44) Ron Carlson Writes a Story by Ron Carlson

Appears On: 2 Lists
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43) Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

Appears On: 2 Lists
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42) Scene and Structure by Jack M. Bickham

Appears On: 2 Lists
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41) Sometimes The Magic Works: Lessons From A Writing Life by Terry Brooks

Appears On: 2 Lists
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40) The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well by Paula LaRocque

Appears On: 2 Lists
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39) The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells By Robert W. Bly

Appears On: 2 Lists
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38) The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes

Appears On: 2 Lists
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37) The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier by Bonnie Trenga

Appears On: 2 Lists
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36) The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner

Appears On: 2 Lists
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35) The Idea Writers: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era By Teressa Iezzi

Appears On: 2 Lists
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34) The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction by Stephen Koch

Appears On: 2 Lists
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33) The Paris Review Interviews, Vols. 1-4

Appears On: 2 Lists
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32) The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry by Kim Addonizio

Appears On: 2 Lists
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31) The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets by Ted Kooser

Appears On: 2 Lists
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30) The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation Into the Writing Life by Julia Cameron

Appears On: 2 Lists
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29) The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher E. Vogler

Appears On: 2 Lists
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28) Write Good or Die by Scott Nicholson

Appears On: 2 Lists
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27) Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times by The New York Times

Appears On: 2 Lists
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26) Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling by Donald Maass

Appears On: 2 Lists
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25) Writing Fiction for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson

Appears On: 2 Lists
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24) Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft

Appears On: 2 Lists
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23) Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Ernest Hemingway

Appears On: 3 Lists
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22) Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Appears On: 3 Lists
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21) Stein On Writing by Sol Stein

Appears On: 3 Lists
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20) Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks

Appears On: 3 Lists
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19) The Mother Tongue – English, and How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson

Appears On: 3 Lists
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18) The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick

Appears On: 3 Lists
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17) Why I Write by George Orwell

Appears On: 3 Lists
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16) Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington

Appears On: 3 Lists
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15) Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose

Appears On: 4 Lists
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14) Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin

Appears On: 4 Lists
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13) The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner

Appears On: 4 Lists
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12) Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark

Appears On: 4 Lists
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11) Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

Appears On: 5 Lists
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10) Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

Appears On: 5 Lists
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9) The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Appears On: 6 Lists
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8) Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

Appears On: 6 Lists
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7) The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Appears On: 8 Lists
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6) The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

Appears On: 9 Lists
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5) Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

Appears On: 11 Lists
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4) The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Appears On: 12 Lists
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3) On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Appears On: 14 Lists
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2) Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on the Writing Life by Anne Lamott

Appears On: 19 Lists
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1) On Writing by Stephen King

Appears On: 20 Lists
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The 463 Additional Books Appearing on a Single List


 

  • 100 Ways to Improve Your Writing Gary Provost
  • 19th Century American Writers on Writing
  • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love — By Rachel Aaron
  • 642 Things to Write About: A Journal
  • A Beautiful Marsupial Afternoon: New (Soma)tics
  • A Bolt From the Blue and Other Essays, Mary McCarthy
  • A Canticle for Leibowitz
  • A Death in the Family
  • A Field Guide for Immersion Writing: Memoir, Journalism and Travel
  • A Firing Offense
  • A Guide to The Common Core Writing Workshop by Lucy Calkins
  • A Gun for Sale (aka This Gun for Hire)
  • A Human Eye: Essays on Art in Society, 1996-2008
  • A Kite in the Wind: Fiction Writers on Their Craft
  • A Long High Whistle: Selected Columns on Poetry
  • A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller
  • A Novel Approach: To Writing Your First Book or Your Best One
  • A Novel In A Year
  • A Patchwork Planet
  • A Perfect Crime
  • A Poet’s Glossary
  • A Poet’s Guide to Poetry
  • A River Runs Through It and Other Stories
  • A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
  • A Secret Location on the Lower East Side: Adventures in Writing, 1960-1980
  • A Sight for Sore Eyes
  • A Solemn Pleasure: To Imagine, Witness, and Write
  • A Suitable Boy
  • A Walk in the Woods
  • A Widow for One Year
  • A Writer Teaches Writing by Don Murray
  • A Writer’s Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
  • A Writer’s Diary
  • A Writer’s Space: Make Room to Dream, to Work, to Write
  • A Writer’s Workbook: Daily Exercises for the Writing Life
  • A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration and Encouragement
  • ABC of Reading
  • Academic Writing for Graduate Students: A Course for Nonnative Speakers of English
  • ADVICE TO WRITERS
  • After Confession: Poetry as Autobiography
  • Always Apprentices: The Believer Presents Twenty-Two Conversations Between Writers
  • Ambition and Survival: Becoming a Poet
  • An Absorbing Errand: How Artists and Craftsmen Make Their Way to Mastery
  • Ancient Shores
  • Angela’s Ashes
  • Argument and Song: Sources and Silences in Poetry
  • Around the Writer’s Block: Using Brain Science to Solve Writer’s Resistance by Roseanne Bane
  • Art & Fear. Image Continuum Press, 2000.
  • As I Lay Dying
  • Austerlitz, W. G. Sebald
  • Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry
  • Becoming a Writer Dorothea Thompson Brande
  • Beginnings, Middles & Ends – Nancy Kress
  • Bending Genre: Essays on Creative Nonfiction
  • Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing, by Jessica Page Morrell
  • Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen
  • Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay by Kimberly Hill Campbell
  • Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
  • Blending Genre, Altering Style: Writing Multigenre Papers by Tom Romano
  • Blood and Guts in High School, Kathy Acker
  • Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book
  • Bowstring
  • Breakthrough Copywriting: How To Generate Quick Cash With The Written Word — By David Garfinkel
  • Brideshead Revisited
  • Bringing the Devil to His Knees: The Craft of Fiction and the Writing Life
  • Building Fiction: How to Develop Plot and Structure
  • Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction
  • CA$HVERTISING: How to Use More than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to
  • Anyone, by Drew Eric Whitman
  • Cathedral
  • Characters & Viewpoint – Orson Scott Card
  • Charming Billy
  • Choice Words for Local Marketers – How to Use Content Marketing to Generate Revenue — By Susan Andersen
  • Cities of the Plain
  • Close Range: Wyoming Stories
  • Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content (Voices That Matter) — By Colleen Jones
  • Collected Poems: 1948-1984, Derek Walcott
  • Common Carnage
  • Conflict, Action & Suspense – William Noble
  • Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth
  • Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers
    and Ignite Your Business — By Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman
  • Copywriting 101: The Fundamental Guide to Writing Compelling Copy That Sells Your Product, Service, or Idea —
    By Copyblogger Media
  • Copywriting For The Rest of Us — By Mike Shreeve
  • Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising and marketing — By Mark Shaw
  • Crafting Novels and Short Stories: The Complete Guide to Writing Great Fiction
  • Crafting The Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Non-Fiction
  • Creating Fat Content: Boost Website Traffic with Visitor-Grabbing, Google-Loving Web Content — By Dr. Andy
    Williams
  • Creating Poetry
  • Critical Mass, James Wolcott
  • Dead Man’s Walk
  • Dear Mister Essay Writer Guy: Advice and Confessions on Writing, Love, and Cannibals
  • Deception on His Mind
  • Dirty White Boys
  • Don’t Tell the Grownups: Subversive Children’s Literature
  • Dreams and Wishes: Essays on Writing for Children
  • Elements of Writing Fiction. Originally published by F&W, all reissued through Writer’s Digest Books.
  • Empower Your Writing: Skills for Today’s Content Creator — By Farnoosh Brock
  • Enduring Love
  • English Grammar For Dummies Geraldine Woods
  • English in Today’s Research World
  • Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True Elizabeth Berg
  • Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers
  • Every Writer Has A Thousand Faces: For Writers, Artists, and Anyone Else Who Has a Creative Life
  • Everybody Writes: The Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content — By Ann Handley
  • Family Trouble: Memoirists on the Hazards and Rewards of Revealing Family
  • Family Values
  • Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir
  • Find it Fast: How to Uncover Expert Information on Any Subject. Harper, 2000.
  • Finding Your Voice: How to Put Personality in Your Writing, by Les Edgerton
  • Finding Your Writer’s Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction by Frank & Wall
  • First We Read, Then We Write: Emerson on the Creative Process
  • For a Better World by Katherine and Randy Bomer
  • Freedomland
  • Furnace
  • Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin
  • Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, Lawrence Wright
  • Good Enough to Dream
  • GOOD PROSE
  • Gravity
  • Gwynne’s Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English
  • Handbook for Academic Authors
  • Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
  • Hannibal
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
  • Heart of Darkness
  • Hidden Gems by Katherine and Randy Bomer
  • High Conversion E-Mail Copywriting: 50 E-Mail Marketing Copywriting Tips to Increase Your Rates by 30% or More
    — By Scott Frothingham
  • Hocus Pocus
  • Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, by Les Edgerton
  • Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
  • How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar – William Safire
  • HOW TO READ A BOOK
  • How to Speak and Write Correctly Joseph Devlin
  • How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling, by James N. Frey
  • How to Write a Nonfiction eBook in 21 Days – That Readers LOVE!
  • How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method
  • How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper
  • How to Write and Publish Papers in the Medical Sciences
  • How to Write Bestselling Fiction [mild language]
  • How to Write Magnetic Headlines: The Fundamental Guide to the Most Important Copywriting Skill on the Planet —
    By Copyblogger Media
  • How to Write Seductive Web Copy: An Easy Guide to Picking Up More Customers — By Henneke Duistermaat
  • How to Write. Perennial, 1996 (reprint).
  • How’s It Going? A Practical Guide for Conferring with Student Writers by Carl Anderson
  • I Could Tell You Stories: Sojourns in the Land of Memory
  • If I Was You…: And Alot More Grammar Mistakes You Might Be Making
  • In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction
  • In Praise of Reading and Fiction
  • In the Lake of the Woods
  • In the Night Season
  • Into Thin Air
  • Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir
  • Is Life Like This? A Guide to Writing Your First Novel in Six Months
  • Keep Calm and Query On: Notes on Writing (and Living) With Hope
  • Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction
  • Keys to Great Writing Stephen Wilbers
  • Kickass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps: Build The Buzz And Sell The Sizzle — By Susan Gunelius
  • Kicking in the Wall
  • Kill All Your Darlings, Luc Sante
  • Latitude Zero
  • Lectures on Literature
  • Letters to a Young Artist
  • Letters to a Young Poet
  • Letting Go of the Words, Second Edition: Writing Web Content that Works— By Janice (Ginny) Redish
  • Life Work
  • Lights Out
  • Lit From Within: Contemporary Masters on the Art and Craft of Writing
  • Literally, the Best Language Book Ever: Annoying Words and Abused Phrases You Should Never Use Again
  • Lives of the Monster Dogs
  • Living Write: The Secret to Inviting Your Craft Into Your Daily Life
  • Lord of the Flies
  • MacMillan English School Books
  • Made to Stick, Chip Heath and Dan Heath
    Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures
  • Make Good Art
  • Making a Literary Life
  • Making Shapely Fiction. W.W. Norton, 2000.
  • Manuscript Makeover Elizabeth Lyon
    Men in Black
  • Mentor and Muse: Essays from Poets to Poets
  • Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century
  • Metaphors We Live By – George Lakoff and Mark Johnson
  • Miami and the Siege of Chicago, Norman Mailer
  • Mohawk
  • More Writer’s First Aid: Getting the Writing Done Kristi Holl
  • Narrative Design: Working with Imagination, Craft and Form. W.W. Norton, 2000.
  • Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing
  • New American Short Stories
  • New Tax Guide for Writers, Artists, Performers, and Other Creative People
  • Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Writing Poetry
  • No Plot No Problem – Chris Baty
  • No Safe Place
  • Novel Ideas: Contemporary Authors Share the Creative Process
  • Novel Writing: A Writers’ and Artists’ Companion
  • Old Friend From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir
  • Oliver Twist
  • On Becoming a Novelist
  • On Looking: Essays
  • On Teaching and Writing Fiction
  • One Day in the Life of the English Language: A Microcosmic Usage Handbook
  • One True Thing
  • Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within
  • Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry
  • Our Guys
  • Our Man in Havana
  • Out of the Vinyl Deeps, Ellen Willis
  • Page after Page by Heather Sellers
  • Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov
  • Passwords Primeval: 20 American Poets in Their Own Words
  • Pen on Fire Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
  • Phrases That Sell: The Ultimate Phrase Finder to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and Ideas — By
    Edward Werz
  • Plainsong
  • Plotto: The Master Book of All Plots
  • Poet’s Choice
  • Poetry In Person: Twenty-five Years of Conversation With America’s Poets
  • Poetry Notebook: Reflections on the Intensity of Language
  • Poets on Place: Interviews and Tales From the Road
  • Portrait Inside My Head, Phillip Lopate
  • Pressure Drop
  • Proofs and Theories: Essays on Poetry
  • Proposals That Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertation and Grant Proposals
  • Publication Manual American Psychological Association,
  • Quote Poet Unquote: Contemporary Quotations on Poets and Poetry
  • Readers In Wonderland: The Liberating Worlds of Fantasy Fiction
  • Reading Projects Reimagined by Dan Finkleson
  • Regeneration
  • Reservation Road
  • Revolution #9
  • Rhyme’s Reason: A Guide to English Verse
  • Right to Life
  • Rules for the Dance: A Handbook for Writing and Reading Metrical Verse
  • Searching For The Secret River
  • Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing Cheryl B. Klein
  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers
  • Several Short Sentences About Writing
  • Seymour: An Introduction
  • Silences
  • Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose Constance Hale
  • Smilla’s Sense of Snow
  • Sol Stein’s A-Z Guide to Writing Success and Publishing Know-How
  • Spreading the Word: Editors on Poetry
  • Spunk & Bite
  • Still Writing
  • Story
  • Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting – Robert McKee
  • Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction
  • Structuring Your Novel K. M. Weiland
  • Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Longman, 2002.
  • Style: Toward Clarity and Grace
  • Survivor
  • Take Joy: A Writer’s Guide to Loving the Craft
  • Techniques of the Selling Writer
  • Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide From the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University
  • Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World
  • Thank You for Smoking
  • That Should Be a Word
  • The Adweek Copywriting Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Powerful Advertising and Marketing Copy from One
    of America’s Top Copywriters — By Joseph Sugarman
  • The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, by John Truby
  • The Anthologist
  • The Anxiety of Influence: A Theory of Poetry
  • The AP Styleboook (for reference)
  • The Art of Attention: A Poet’s Eye
  • The Art of Character: Creating Memorable Characters for Fiction, Film, and TV
  • The Art Of Creative Nonfiction. Wiley, 1997.
  • The Art of Daring: Risk, Restlessness, Imagination
  • The Art of Description: World Into Word
  • The Art of Memoir
  • The Art of Recklessness: Poetry as an Assertive Force and Contradiction
  • The Art of Spiritual Writing: How to Craft Prose That Engages and Inspires Your Readers, by Vinita Hampton Wright
    The Art of Styling Sentences
  • The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot
  • The Art of Syntax: Rhythm of Thought, Rhythm of Song
  • The Art of the Novel: Critical Prefaces
  • The Art of the Poetic Line
  • The Art of the Short Story: 52 Great Authors, Their Best Short Fiction, and Their Insights on Writing
  • The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories
  • The Art of Time in Fiction: As Long as It Takes
  • The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself
  • The Autobiographer’s Handbook: The 826 National Guide to Writing Your Memoir
  • The Ax
  • The Beach
  • The Beautiful Struggle, Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers
  • The Best American Essays 2012
  • The Best American Essays. Houghton Mifflin, annually 1986-present.
  • The Best American Short Stories of the 20th Century by John Updike and Katrina Kenison
  • The Best Punctuation Book, Period: A Comprehensive Guide for Every Writer,
  • The Big Book of Words You Should Know, by David Olsen, Michelle Bevilacqua, and Justin Cord Hayes
  • The Bloomsbury Introduction to Creative Writing
  • The Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics
  • The Breakout Novelist: Craft and Strategies for Career Fiction Writers
  • The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide To English Usage – Theodore M. Bernstein
  • The Cement Garden
  • The Chairs Are Where People Go, Misha Glouberman and Sheila Heti
  • The Chicago Manual of Style
  • The Child That Books Built
  • The Church of Dead Girls
  • The Collected Stories, Grace Paley
  • The Common Core Grammar Toolkit: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Language Standards in Grades K-5 by Sean Ruday
  • The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing – Edited by Meg Leder and Jack Heffron
  • The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Well Laurie E. Rozakis
  • The Conde Nast Traveler Book of Unforgettable Journeys: Great Writers on Great Places
  • The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide
  • The Craft of Research. Chicago, 2003.
  • The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop
  • The Crater
  • The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life
  • The Creative Writer’s Survival Guide: Advice From an Unrepentant Novelist
  • The Crossing
  • The Dead Father, Donald Barthelme
  • The Devil’s Own Work
  • The Dick Gibson Show
  • The Dissertation Handbook: A Guide to Successful Dissertations
  • The Eleventh Draft: Craft and the Writing Life from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
  • The Emerging Writer, Emerging Writers’ Festival
  • The English Patient
  • The Essential Don Murray: Lessons from America’s Greatest Writing Teacher by Don Murray
  • The Eye in the Door
  • The Fact of a Doorframe: Poems 1950-2001, Adrienne Rich
  • The Fifties
  • The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great
  • The First Five Pages – Noah Lukeman
  • The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers Of/On Creative Nonfiction. Longman, 2002.
  • The Ghost Road
  • The Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction: Building Blocks
  • The Gold Coast
  • The Gregg Reference Manual, by William Sabin
  • The Half-Known World: On Writing Fiction
  • The Ignored
  • The Illusionist
  • The Intruder
  • The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcolm
  • The Liars’ Club
  • The Life of Poetry
  • The Little Red Writing Book Brandon Royal
  • The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story
  • The Made-Up Self: Impersonation in the Personal Essay
  • The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing
  • The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Writing Fiction and Nonfiction. W.W. Norton, 2007.
  • The Marshall Plan for Getting Your Novel Published: 90 Strategies and Techniques for Selling Your Fiction, by
    Evan Marshall
  • The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing: A 16-Step Program Guaranteed to Take You from Idea to Competed Manuscript,
    by Evan Marshall
  • The McSweeney’s Book of Poets Picking Poets
  • The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing and Life
  • The Midnight Disease – The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block and the Creative Brain
  • The MLA’s Line by Line How to Edit Your Own Writing
  • The Moon and Sixpence
  • The Multigenre Research Paper: Voice, Passion, and Discovery in Grades 4-6 by Camille Allen
  • The New New Journalism: Conversations With America’s Best Nonfiction Writers on Their Craft
  • The No Plot? No Problem! Chris Baty
  • The Novelist’s Lexicon: Writers On the Words That Define Their Work
  • The Online Copywriter’s Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Write Electronic Copy That Sells — By Robert
    Bly
  • The Plot Thickens – Noah Lukeman
  • The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
  • The Poem’s Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody
  • The Poet
  • The Poisonwood Bible
  • The Portable Poetry Workshop
  • The Power of Grammar: Unconventional Approaches to the Conventions of Language by Mary Ehrenworth
  • The Power of Point of View: Make a Story Come to Life, by Alicia Rasley
  • The Practice of Poetry, Edited by Robin Behen and Chase Twichell.
  • The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach
  • The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind
  • The Rest Is Noise, Alex Ross
  • The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery
  • The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction
  • The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer
  • The Secret History
  • The Secret Miracle: The Novelist’s Handbook
  • The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
  • The Seven Basic Plots
  • The Sheltering Sky
  • The Shipping News
  • The Sky in the Water
  • The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide
  • The Speed Queen
  • The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers
  • The Strangest of Theatres: Poets Writing Across Borders
  • The Thesis and the Book
  • The Tooth Fairy
  • The Tortilla Curtain
  • The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing
  • The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life With Language
  • The Truth of Memoir: How to Write About Yourself and Others With Honesty, Emotion, and Integrity
  • The Van Gogh Blues by Eric Maisel
  • The Virtues of Poetry
  • The Weekend Novelist Rewrites the Novel: A Step-by-Step Guide to Perfecting Your Work
  • The White Album, Joan Didion
  • The Wink of the Zenith: The Shaping of a Writer’s Life
  • The Woman Who Walked into Doors
  • The Writer’s Desk
  • The Writer’s Notebook II: Craft Essays From Tin House
  • The Writer’s Notebook: Craft Essays From Tin House
  • The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life
  • The Writing of Fiction
  • The Writing Warrior: Discovering the Courage to Free Your True Voice
  • The Young Lions
  • Things I Don’t Want to Know: On Writing
  • This Art: Poems About Poetry
  • This Book Will Teach You How to Write Better — By Neville Medhora
  • Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing into Your Busy Life
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction by Phillip Lopate
  • To Sound Like Yourself: Essays on Poetry
  • To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
  • To The Point: A Dictionary of Concise Writing
  • Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie and Folklore in the Literature of Childhood
  • Toward the Open Field: Poets on the Art of Poetry 1800-1950
  • Two-Way Mirror: A Poetry Notebook
  • Underworld
  • Varieties of Disturbance, Lydia Davis
  • Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing
  • Views From the Loft: A Portable Writer’s Workshop
  • Vivid and Continuous: Essays and Exercises for Writing Fiction
  • Waiting
  • Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle
  • Web Copy That Sells: The Revolutionary Formula for Creating Killer Copy That Grabs Their Attention and Compels
    Them to Buy —By Maria Veloso
  • Werewolves in Their Youth
  • What if?, Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
  • What It Is
  • What Poets Are Like: Up and Down With the Writing Life
  • Where I’m Calling From
  • Why Sinatra Matters
  • Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life Natalie Goldberg
  • Windows and Doors: A Poet Reads Literary Theory
  • Wired for Story: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa
    Cron
  • Woe is I, Patricia O’Conner
  • Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching
  • Words are Categorical series, by Brian P. Cleary
  • Words that Sell, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Thesaurus to Help You Promote Your Products, Services, and
    Ideas
  • Working, Studs Terkel
  • World Enough & Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down
  • Worlds Of Childhood: The Art And Craft Of Writing For Children
  • Write from Life Meg Files
  • Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint (Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic
    Characters and Effective Viewpoints), by Nancy Kress;
  • Write Great Fiction: Description & Setting, by Ron Rozelle.
  • Write Great Fiction: Dialogue (Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Effective Dialogue), by Gloria Kempton;
    and
  • Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure (Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from
    Start to Finish), by James Scott Bell;
  • Write On! Dan Mulvey
  • Writing Alone and with Others
  • Writing Between the Lines: Composition in the Social Sciences
  • Writing Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Techniques for Crafting Great Nonfiction. Ten Speed Press, 2001.
  • Writing Creative Nonfiction. Associated Writing Programs/Story Press, 2001.
  • Writing Fiction
  • Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from New York’s Acclaimed Creative Writing School
  • Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article
  • Writing for the Web: Creating Compelling Web Content Using Words, Pictures, and Sound — By Lynda Felder
  • Writing from the Body: For Writers, Artists and Dreamers Who Long to Free Their Voice
  • Writing from the Senses: 60 Exercises to Ignite Creativity and Revitalize Your Writing
  • Writing Hannah
  • Writing Is My Drink: A Writer’s Story of Finding Her Voice (and a Guide to How You Can Too)
  • Writing Lessons Learned: A Book Of Inspiration For Writers Hope Wilbanks
  • Writing Literature Reviews: A Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioural Sciences
  • Writing Magic – Creating Stories That Fly
  • Writing Past Dark
  • Writing Poems, Robert Wallace
  • Writing Poetry (2nd edition, 1993), Barbara Drake.
  • Writing Poetry to Save Your Life: How to Find the Courage to Tell Your Stories
  • Writing Short Stories: A Writers’ & Artists’ Companion
  • Writing Successfully in Science
  • Writing with Passion by Tom Romano
  • You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
  • Your Life Is a Book: How to Craft & Publish Your Memoir
  • Zeke and Ned
  • Zombie

The 35 “Best Writing” Book Lists Consulted

 

A.M. Anderson

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