Hey Cordelia! In one of your pateron workshop, you recommanded the book Outlining your novel Workbook by K.M. Weiland. I was wondering if you had any other recommandations for authors that you used yourself or heard good thing about?

Sure! I never used to be into craft books, but after finishing the rough draft of A Chip and a Chair, I was having a lot of trouble focusing on what to do next. So I started dicking around on Amazon Kindle and checking out various titles.

At this point, I don’t really need help with the basics of plotting, characterization, etc., but some books are great at getting you to look at story elements from another perspective, and sparking ideas and inspiration you might not have had otherwise. That’s something an author can always use!

What I look for in craft books are concrete exercises and brainstorming prompts, as opposed to essay-type explanations which are aimed more at newer writers. That’s what I like about Outlining Your Novel Workbook by K.M. Weiland, as you mentioned, and another book by the same author - Structuring Your Novel Workbook.

Both of those workbooks have separate companion books by the same titles. I haven’t read those, because again I was only really interested in the exercises, but newer writers might want to check out both. I can say that a lot of the workbook exercises are pretty fun and have gotten me thinking more deeply about various elements of the new projects I’m considering.

Another set of books I like are The Positive Trait Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus, and The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, all by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. These are great for thinking more deeply about characterization, and are just plain interesting in their own right.