Writers, regardless of whether they pen prose or poetry, may need resources to tap into when they are in the heat of their craft. True wordsmiths should not be afraid to utilize reference books, websites, and even other writers to develop and strengthen vocabulary and grammar, add to their writing skills toolbox, and stay updated on the writers market and publishing trends. The following “top 10” list is a great starting point for those who have perused the bookstore shelves or online sites and been overwhelmed with the abundance of “how to” resources
1. The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile (Noah Lukeman) – This book is one of the most vital resources for someone wanting to create work that has a fighting chance of making it from the slush pile to the editor’s desk. Noah Lukeman is not only a writer, but a literary agent who has vast experience seeing diverse quantity and quality of work cross his desk. In this book, he offers an insider’s nuggets of wisdom of the things that will make a writer’s work tight and professional while avoiding the bad habits (and eccentric tricks to stand out) that will get a manuscript returned or tossed in the rubbish bin. Some of the topics he covers are: weak opening hooks, overuse of adjectives and adverbs, underdeveloped characters and lifeless settings, uneven pacing and lack of progression, melodramatic and commonplace dialogue, and unoriginal plot. This is an essential tool for understanding not only the art of writing, but the mindset of those deciding if your work is ready for publication.
Writers, regardless of whether they pen prose or poetry, may need resources to tap into when they are in the heat of their craft. True wordsmiths should not be afraid to utilize reference books, websites, and even other writers to develop and strengthen vocabulary and grammar, add to their writing skills toolbox, and stay updated on the writers market and publishing trends. The following “top 10” list is a great starting point for those who have perused the bookstore shelves or online sites and been overwhelmed with the abundance of “how to” resources.
1. The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying out of the Rejection Pile (Noah Lukeman) – This book is one of the most vital resources for someone wanting to create work that has a fighting chance of making it from the slush pile to the editor’s desk. Noah Lukeman is not only a writer, but a literary agent who has vast experience seeing diverse quantity and quality of work cross his desk. In this book, he offers an insider’s nuggets of wisdom of the things that will make a writer’s work tight and professional while avoiding the bad habits (and eccentric tricks to stand out) that will get a manuscript returned or tossed in the rubbish bin. Some of the topics he covers are: weak opening hooks, overuse of adjectives and adverbs, underdeveloped characters and lifeless settings, uneven pacing and lack of progression, melodramatic and commonplace dialogue, and unoriginal plot. This is an essential tool for understanding not only the art of writing, but the mindset of those deciding if your work is ready for publication.
2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Stephen King) – An entertaining as well as informative read, King provides anecdotes from his life that fed into his becoming a writer—stories that may help writers avoid the same mistakes (and embrace the lessons learned) to set them on a similar course. King includes advice concerning growing your vocabulary and grammar toolbox, reading and writing profusely, overcoming fear, developing style, monitoring pacing and so much more. This book will make you hungry to write, so be prepared.
3. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (Anne Lamott) – In a similar vein as King’s On Writing, this book is written from the personal standpoint of gleaned knowledge and experience that contribute to the course of becoming (and growing as) a writer. Lamott’s down-to-earth and humorous views of life and its challenges help animate her stories of successes and failures. A smattering of her topics include: short writing assignments, pathetic first drafts, the battle with perfectionism, editing while writing, plot and setting, character and dialogue, and publication. This book will help you determine if you truly are a writer and not just someone who occasionally writes.
4. The Elements of Style (William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White)– Often considered by many as the bible of “how to/not to write,” this book emphasizes the basics that so many writers tend to discard. Strunk and White bring to the table the essential elements of grammar usage, punctuation rules, active/passive voice, superfluous words, awkward adverbs, dialect and figures of speech, qualifiers, revision, and an abundance of other necessary tools to keep writing tight and in its proper form. It is imperative to keep this compact resource by the computer or notepad.
5. The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing (Editors of Writer’s Digest) – Written with contributions from the Writer’s Digest editors, this book is a compilation of articles by and interviews with renowned authors like Stephen King, Tom Clancy, Joyce Carol Oates, Terry Brooks, Sue Grafton, James Patterson, and many others. They share practical information and advice concerning most every facet of writing, from inception to publication. Some major topics include: mastering point of view, developing your unique voice and style, stimulating your readers, overcoming writer’s block, determining your genre and its respective elements, finding an agent and dealing with the writers market, and so many other aspects that will help you grow and mature in your own wordsmithing.
6. Novelist’s Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes (Raymond Obstfeld) – With a slightly more precise focus than the other books, this book deals chiefly with developing scenes. Obstfeld shares priceless tips on determining what is/isn’t a scene, structuring setting, starting and ending scenes, considering scene length, creating characters and compelling dialogue, building suspense and comedy, and revising scenes. This book is a good tool for looking at your work piece by piece to see how your chapters flow and what they are showing the reader.
7. How to Write a Damn Good Novel (James N. Frey) – Aptly named, this book provides a great crosscut of the key elements that comprise novel writing. Frey digs deeply into character development, from avoiding stereotype and two-dimensional characters to interviewing and discovering your cast. He also does a thorough job covering other major topics like creating conflict, determining the story’s premise, building climax and resolution, shaping dialogue, and analyzing and rewriting your work.
8. To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish (Mick Rooney) – A priceless resource for when a writer is considering how to publish his completed work, this book provides a wealth of knowledge about the publishing model. Rooney gets the reader to ask himself why he wants to self-publish—what his ambitions are for his work. He shows the current publishing trends and provides myriad pros and cons to traditional, vanity, subsidy, partnership, and genuine self-publishing. Further, he shines the spotlight on several notable (and perhaps notso notable) publishers in the market and what to keep in mind when dealing with their service, quality, and contracts. This book really helps to understand the options available so an aspiring writer can make an intelligent decision about how to get his work into the world.
9. Dictionary – There are obviously too many printed and online dictionaries from which to choose, so the best advice is to research and acquire one that suits your needs and keep it nearby when writing. It goes without saying that vocabulary is the foundation of writing, so…enough said. Of note, the Oxford English Dictionary and New Oxford American Dictionary are bothreliable choices, though sometimes price may dictate your selection.
10. Thesaurus – Despite intellect and degree of talent, there will always be a time when a writer is at a loss for a word, or she has used up as many variations as she knows and still wants to use a similar connotation without repeating previous uses. Therefore, a reliable thesaurus—notably one like Roget’s International Thesaurus—is critical on a writer’s shelf.
This is obviously a brief list of the numerous resources available, and no websites were included as that would have made for more of a "top 100" list, but these books a great way of beginning a resource shelf to visit often when beginning or in the midst of creating your next masterpiece.
