Favorite Books for Writers

What does a writer like more than a good book? A good book about writing, of course! Here are some of my current favorites you might want to check out of the library or add to your own collection:

For Inspiration

Debbie Macomber’s book Knit Together tells of her writer’s journey and so much more. It is filled with anecdotes from her life, life lessons she’s learned from others, and encouragement for writers on life’s purpose. This is a book to read every year.

Lois Lowry’s Looking Back is her memoir on writing. Here is what she says about it: “I would like to introduce you to this book. It has no plot. It is about moments, memories, fragments, falsehoods, and fantasies. It is about things that happened, which caused other things to happen, so that eventually stories emerged.”

On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner: from the Preface: “This book is for the beginning novelist who has already figured out that it is far more satisfying to write well than simply write well enough to get published.” And on p.70, “Nothing is harder than being a true novelist, unless that is all one wants to be, in which case, though becoming a true novelist is hard, everything else is harder.”

Madeleine L’Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life is filled with short quotes covering a wide variety of concerns for writers.

For Craft

The Deer on a Bicycle by Patrick McManus. My Jr. High homeroom teacher read Patrick McManus books to us. This book, subtitled, Excursions into the Writing of Humor, helps me lighten up. It’s difficult to pull out a quote because he writes like a snowball rolling down the hill—the humor builds on itself until there is one final hilarious moment. And, oddly enough, his explanations are like that, too. (BTW–I’m pretty sure that the kids across the hall from us in Jr. High wished they were in our homeroom.)

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is an old standby. I’ve had this book for a long time and it’s good to take out and refresh my memory every so often.

Then of course, there are the books we’ve mentioned frequently on this blog already. (Check the archives for their guest blogs!)

Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell.

First Draft in 30 Days by Karen Wiesner

Create a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld. Sale Alert: Click here to hop over to Jordan’s website where she is currently running a book sale!

Let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites. There is still room on my writing shelf for more.