So many choices but these 4 books on writing have made me a better writer
With so many books out there on writing, it was hard to narrow it down to just four. I have read many books on writing, but these four that I have listed, have been the most helpful, the most inspiring and are the ones that get me excited to write. I continually refer back to these books, for inspiration, reference, and a memory jolt. They have definitely made me a better writer.
“The Making of a Story” by Alice LaPlante
This by far is my favorite of all books I have ever read on writing. With 670 pages, nothing is left out. It is full of valuable information for any aspiring writer. Even experienced writers would appreciate this book.
Written by an English teacher and based on her fifteen years of teaching, this book is well written, well structured and very easy to understand and follow. Every part of writing a book is broken down from the very beginning to the end. Each chapter is concluded with valuable exercises that gets you eager to write. I highly recommend this book to anyone that is eager to learn the art of writing.
Buy it now from Amazon – Simply click on the link below
Making of a Story by Alice LaPlante
“The Art of Fiction” by John Gardner
This is one of the first books I brought on writing and remains one of my all time favorites today. Written by a teacher of creative writing based on his courses, John Gardner plots a novel from beginning to end. His explanations and advice have an amusing twist, making the book a pleasure to read. The book concludes with some helpful fun exercises and a detailed index. Making it easy to find any particular subject easy to find. A great reference book that has a permanent place on my desk.
Buy it now from Amazon – Simply click on the link below
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
“Fiction Writer’s Workshop” By Josip Novakovich
Whether you are a new writer or an experienced one looking to stretch your knowledge. This book is a valuable resource. Filled with informative examples, step by step instructions and 127 in depth exercises to get you to write. When I first started reading this book, the exercises helped me tremendously and opened doors that I would never have thought of. Often I go back and redo some of the exercises and still they help me today.
Buy it now from Amazon – Simply click on the link below
Fiction Writer’s Workshop by Josip Novakovich
“Reading Like A Writer” by Francine Prose
Being an avid reader, I bought this book to help change my reading habits. It helped immensely. Since reading this book, the way I read has changed so much. It has taught me to slow down and read between the lines and notice things in the authors writing that I had never noticed before. Elements I now practice in my own writing. Francine Prose gives great excerpts from many famous authors with great break downs and detailed explanations of each paragraph. Teaching you to change your reading habits, be more alert and just take it all in. At the end of the book, she gives a detailed list of “100 books to read.” Which I have found extremely valuable.
Buy it now from Amazon – Simply click on the link below.
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
In summary, these are the four books I continue to use to refresh my memory on writing skills and each time I pick them up I discover something new. I hope they help you too. If you have any other suggestions for books on writing please comment below.
Here are some of my other writing tips that you may enjoy – Simply click on the image to view the article
“Reading like a Writer” sounds really interesting, I think what I read really informs and influences my writing style. I will have to check that out! Thanks for sharing.
This book alone changed the way I read books. It really makes you aware of your reading habits and helps you focus on changing them.
As a non-fiction writer that’s been itching to write my first novel, this list is priceless. I’ve been perusing blog posts and articles but I hadn’t even considered books that could provide insight and tips. Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me. Good luck!
Always looking to improve writing skills. Will see if the library has copies of these books or can order them for me.
Me too. I have shelves of writing skill books but these are defiantly my favorites.
What lovely recommendations, Reading like a Writer is definitely one I would be interested in as I love to read but have trouble appreciating deeper meanings and structures. I would be interested to hear what books on writing you would recommend for bloggers and writers of non-fiction as I often struggle to make what I am writing about entertaining or attention grabbing.
Thank you all of these books are helpful in all fields of writing. For blogging, I would recommend “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley. An informative book on creating good content for websites, marketing, and blogs. Regarding non-fiction, the only one that comes to mind is “Writing non-fiction” by Dan Poynter. Hope these help.
Great metacognitive reads! I will definitely be checking these out.
Sondra xx
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Thanks! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did
If I could actually get through my to read list. I would def add “The Making of a Story”. But for now I will be happy with this review. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome. I hope in the future it will help you
Thanks for sharing some wonderful resources that helped you w/writing.
You are welcome.
This is a great start to my reading list. I’ve decided to try writing more and need more inspiration to do so. Thanks for giving me a starting point!
You are welcome. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me. Good luck with your writing.
As a blogger, I am always trying to grow when I write. These books would come in handy to help me evolve more where my writing is concerned. I belive that if someone is not open to change, then they will never grow.
I agree with you 100% and books help us grow in so many directions
Reading Like a Writer sounds interesting and I can see it’s gotten good reviews, too. I just might pick up a copy.
It’s definitely one of my favorites. You won’t be disappointed.
Very helpful as a writer. I will try to collect all.
Wow, thank you so much for these recommendations! I just purchased “Reading Like A Writer” after reading this. I used your link. You’re the best!
Thank you! Hope it helps you as much as it has me 🙂
Thanks for this post! I’m gonna check out “the making of a Story”. I think it’ll help with my marketing and branding efforts.
I’m sure it will. Hope you enjoy it
Reading Like A Write sounds interesting. Developing better writing skills is an ongoing process for me. I call it on the job training but a good book would like attending a valuable seminar.
Reading Like a Writer is a wonderful book and it truly has changed the way I read books. Highly recommend.
these are all such great recommendations, I need to check them out. I totally feel that as a blogger this could be totally useful. I have added making of a story to my list. Thanks!
All of these books can help, no matter what kind of writing you do.
Now these sound like some great books to read for anyone who wants to become a writer, there is always something to be learned from others.
So true 🙂
I’ve always wanted to write a book, but never knew how to begin. I’ll have to check these out so I can get started.
I hope they will help and you are able to start your book soon
I love when I find books that truly make me grow. I love learning and books are the best way to learn new things!
I agree with you. Ther’es nothing like a good book. 🙂
I’ll have to check these books out. I am always looking to improving my writing!
These helped me immensely, I’m sure they would do the same for you.
All of these books look like truly great resources. We will soon be writing and launching our first ebook (yikes), I will be pinning your post to read later when our writing process actually begins!
Great news! Good luck with your ebook.
These books sound fantastic. As a blogger, I am always looking to improve my writing.
These are my favorites and helped me tremendously.
I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing so I’ll have to check these books out! Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. Hope they help.
I need writing skills, I am not an expert but if books can help me with that then it’s worth checking out.
They can help immensely.
I really want to pick up “Reading Like A Writer.” In college writing classes we were taught to read in that way, picking out how the author used words/dialogue/sentence structure/etc. in ways that we wanted to try in our own writing.
I highly recommend it.It completely changes your reading habits.
Thanks so much for these suggestions. I love to write and love to read about how to write better. I actually have “Everybody Writes” which was a gift but I have not had a chance to read it yet!
Oh, I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. It’s a break book.
What would you say is the best bit of advice you learned from these books?
As mentioned in my post, learning to slow down in my reading process and read beyond the lines and understand exactly what the author is trying to relay to the reader,
I should read those books. I like reading, mostly fictional stories, but those books will help me improve my skills. I’m not good at writing. I have to improve that.
these books are a good place to start.
gonna have to check these out, i feel like even as writers we still need to constantly keep growing and learning to better our practice. life is evolving and reading is always around.
That is so very true. We can never learn enough.
I am not a big reader, something I am trying to work on this year is reading more books! Maybe I’ll check out some of these, as I am a fan of reading books that help me better myself rather then fictional stories!
I’m sure you will like these, and they will defiantly help to improve your writing skills
Looks like some good read! Reading Like A Writer seems the most intriguing.
Definitely my favorite.
As a new blogger, I find this information very informational and helpful! I’ve struggled in the past and still do, with my writing skills. Thanks for the suggestions.
You’re welcome, I hope they help.
Thanks for the reading list! I am working to get my writing skills better I would love to read some from your suggestions.
I’m sure they will help you as much as they’ve helped me.
I have considered myself a storyteller, but not a writer. Writing is just something I got into very recently on my blog. Thank you for these recommendations, they may help me in the long run.
I’m sure they will.
These sound like good books, will add at least one to my reading list. Thanks for the suggestions and especially “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley. Some one had the same question I wanted to ask =]
You”re welcome. Glad you liked the list.
I consider myself a bookworm but haven’t encountered any of them. Thank you for sharing. I would surely look for a copy of each.
I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me.
As a novice writer, I find this very helpful. Thank you!
You’re welcome. I hope they help.
Wow, these sound like some nice books. I take a lot of my inspiration from fantasy books, it really helps with imagery and sensory language. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Fantasy books are great for inspiration. These are great for writing well and sentence structures.
You don’t know how you’ve inspired me. As much as I read and write, I never considered reading a book about writing. This is coming from someone who repeatedly stands on her soapbox screaming, “READ”. Thank you.
HA! You’re welcome. I hope they can help you. Good luck.