I thought I’d mention two of my favorite books about the craft of writing. The first is Self Editing For Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. I recall this book giving a good foundation for the basics of writing. I recommend this book to those who are just beginning the writing process and they long to pen a novel. The book also contains writing exercises, which is nice. Self-Editing covers subjects like “show, don’t tell” and other topics that beginning writers need to know. I no longer have my copy and I’ll probably purchase another. I loaned my copy to somebody and they never gave it back.
The second book I wanted to mention was Stephen King’s book On Writing. WARNING, THERE’S SOME PROFANITY IN THIS BOOK, BUT IF YOU CAN GET PAST THAT, THE BOOK GIVES GOOD, SOUND WRITING ADVICE. This book is a memoir that tells about Stephen King’s journey to publication and it also talks about his life. The book even tells about his problems with substance abuse. He also gives good, solid writing advice that most writers need to follow if they want to seriously pursue publication. I read this book several years ago and I still recall passages where Stephen talks about his pre-writing days, about how he’d be at work or doing a task and a scene from a novel would come into his mind. I was mesmerized by this book and I’ve often recommended it to aspiring writers.
What are your favorite books about the craft of writing? Please share those titles with us in the comments section!