Favourite Books About Writing

As writer I am always learning. I may have published a book but not going to pretend like I know everything about the craft. I am constantly learning and taking on advice from other writers. I believe doing this improves my writing technique and I think it has made for an even better book 2 in the Crystal Heart series.

I’m going to share some of the books about writing I have found helpful in the process

First up is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

This book was recommended a few times in a Facebook group I’m in (watch this space for a post on the usefulness of writers groups on fb) Everyone seemed to love this book so I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

This book is amazing. It has been so helpful in fixing plot holes and helping get back on track when I’ve lost my way in a story. I highly recommend. The technique in this book can be used at the beginning of the process to plan your story or to help edit and work out any kinks in your story. I highly recommend it.

Next is The Emotion Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman

This book has been super useful. It is absolutely wonderful when I’m in the editing process. I have found myself being repetitive with how characters show emotion, so I look up the emotion I’m trying to convey and pick something from the very useful list of actions .

This book is also very good for when I accidentally slip into telling rather than showing. Instead of saying she was scared this book has a very useful list of responses and actions to help show how she would act when scared.

There are a few books in this series. I have them all but I find I use this one the most.

The busy writers guide by Marcy Kennedy

The busy writers guide is a series of 11 books. Each books focuses on a different aspect of writing. The four I own are showing and telling, dialogue, description, and grammar.

The grammar one I especially needed, as my grammar is awful. It has improved, still not great, but not as atrocious as it was. (Thank god for editors).

I also have the point of view book and strong female characters on kindle. All the books are full of useful tips and have helped me improve my writing.

Last but not least is Networking for Writers- A fun way to sell books by Lizzie Chantree

This is not exactly about writing technique but more about managing your time effectively and how to improve your networking skills. As a writer I find networking daunting at times and that it can sometimes take away from valuable writing time. This book has great advice on how to find a good balance of networking to seek your book but not loosing writing time.

This book is a nice short read but full of so many useful tips. The advice is really helpful and I think could be useful not just to writers but to any small business wanting to network. It covers different social media platforms and one of the only books I’ve seen with tips for Pinterest. I recommended this book to anyone who wants a bit of help with networking.

So these are my favourite books about writing so far. I so far as I’m still on a learning journey and looking for ways to improve my technique.