Writing Resources: General Writing Books

As part of my goal to write on this blog more often, I’ll sporadically post the writing resources that have helped me. No doubt, as you march along on your wiring journey, others will suggest books, podcasts, websites, etc, they’ve used or found helpful, and with almost all of these, the common refrain is: Your mileage may vary. So take all of these with a grain of salt if someone suggests the best book they’ve ever read that redefined how they see the whole writing experience, and it falls flat for you. It doesn’t mean anything, you just didn’t connect with that author or that method. Just keep searching for the writing books which speak to you.
In this blog, I’ll list a couple of suggestions, but I intend to post many more. Then, I’ll catalog these in a writing resources page for posterity.

General Writing Books

Stephen King: On Writing

You know I had to do it. This book seems to be thrown around by everyone at some point. It’s part autobiography, part writing advice. It is approachable and in the last fifty pages King breaks down his own method for writing a first draft, how he goes about editing his own, and his method for dealing with the plot.
This is a great book for pantsers who want a detailed method from one of the great writers of our time. However, King’s discovery method of writing isn’t going to work for everyone. Even fans of his work might admit that this unstructured method can lead to a rambling style (see how the page counts of his books grew larger once he got rid of his long-time editor). Also, King’s comments on how he broke into the industry and advice on this read as very dated seeing as he’s been a full-time author for decades.
In the end, I enjoyed this book, it’s an easy read, and I did take away some tools which I still use. Take what you love and leave the rest.

Dani Shapiro: Still Writing

Written in short approachable segments it is easy to pick this book up and read a couple of pages before your morning coffee or on a break from work. The prose are approachable and as a creative writing teacher, you feel like she is rooting for you to succeed by offering helpful advice.
As a professional writer, she does get a little into the weeds of what her writing life is like which can be frustrating for an amateur who is still balancing a full-time work schedule with trying to write on the side. Still, because all of the pearls of wisdom are short these sections flow by, and then she is talking about something else that will be right up your alley.
As with all writing books and advice, there are some real gems in this book and some other tips that I personally know won’t work for me. But the approachable style with how she writes and the precise way the sections are put together help make this an easy suggestion to have on your writers shelf. I see pulling it down from time to time in the years ahead for a little shot of motivation.

Julia Cameron: The Right to Write

Many years ago (more than I’d like to admit now) a roommate suggested this writing book when I told him I was taking my craft more seriously. For those not in the know, but perhaps for anyone who grew up in the 90s, Julia Cameron is the author of The Artists Way. I remember my mother and aunt gushing over it and, for a while, everyone seemed to have a copy of that book. I guarantee if you go to your local used bookstore, there is a copy there.
Anyway, I didn’t realize this book was by the same author (though with a recent release of this, I think it says “part of the Artist’s Way”) and bought it on his suggestion. Like many of the others in this section, I use the word approachable a lot, which is important for me in a general writing book. If I want grammar of specific craft elements, I’m going to go to a craft book for that.
This book offers short chapters which really dive into how to set up and maintain a writing habit. Each chapter comes with exercises to get you into writing the actual act of getting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Some of the examples are a little hokey and some of the exercises feel silly. But I can’t deny they got me writing, which was the whole point. If you’re looking for a method for getting into (or back into) writing on a regular basis, then Julia’s books can help with that. She also goes into how to keep your creativity full, which is helpful as well.
On a note, this book does veer into more of a ‘self-help’ verity. Plow past these parts and there still should be some great takeaways.