Whats the most helpful writing book you've read?

[James]

Over the last few years I've tried to read as many books on the art of writing/story as possible. Some have been helpful whereas others have been a complete waste of time. In many of these books the author tends to go off on needless tangents or is so desperate to show the reader how good a writer they are that they become incredibly self-indulgent. However, I recently had the pleasure of reading 'Stephen King - On Writing'. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors and his book on writing certainly didn't disappoint. Part memoir, part writing guide I found it very illuminating and practical. As with all his books, it was also a very enjoyable, breezy read.

Are there any other good books on writing/story anyone can recommend?

[Ramsey]

Self-editing for Fiction Writers. Great practical tips on how to spot the problems in your own writing, with some practice exercises to reinforce the lessons.

[Darlene]

I have to say I really hated Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. I felt the authors were very condescending, often referring to want-to-be writers as "hacks!" (But, I'm glad it worked for you, Ramsey! :-)

There are two books that I have found helpful, and I often refer to them when writing: The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass, and Thanks, But This Isn't For Us by Jessica Page Morrell.
Maass is very straightforward with tips and thought-provoking prompts. I especially like his use of examples.
The other one is a little more fun, with a real tell-it-like-it-is approach. Here's an example: "I recall a manuscript in which the characters' eyes widened in about half the scenes, and another in which the characters were constantly nodding."
Full of good reminders and things to watch out for.

[[deleted user]]

This in not really a book on writing persay, but is a good thesaurus to have on hand for writing emotion.

The Emotion Thesaurus - Angela Ackerman (Goodreads Author), Becca Puglisi (Goodreads Author)

[Anne]

I liked William Zinsser's On Writing Well. It tends to be a bit more oriented towards non-fiction writing, essays or journalism, BUT... you can learn a lot about 'writing well' that applies to any genre.

As an added bonus, Zinsser made me chuckle as I read -- very few books on writing can do that!

[Judith]

I love Jack Bickham's Scene & Structure. For me, it made Goal, Motivation, Conflict a lot more practical.

[Karen]

I loved, and recommend, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.

[[deleted user]]

Karen wrote: "I loved, and recommend, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life."

I added that to my list so I don't forget about it. Thank you.

[[deleted user]]

Judith wrote: "I love Jack Bickham's Scene & Structure. For me, it made Goal, Motivation, Conflict a lot more practical."

Sounds like a good reference book!

[Judith]

It must be. Every time I loan it out, I don't get it back and have to buy another one:)

[[deleted user]]

Judith wrote: "It must be. Every time I loan it out, I don't get it back and have to buy another one:)"

LOL :)

[Tara]

I third "Bird by Bird"! Great book providing both inspiration and instruction. My most-used writing advice book, though, is James Scott Bell's "Plot and Structure". That book made it possible for me to actually finish a novel (I always got off to a great start but got hung up in the middle)! My other top favorite is also Stephen King's book - really one of the most outstanding books on writing IMHO.

[Felicity]

I’m new here so I’m just throwing my thoughts in here since the business of writing is probably one of my favourite subjects and I love to read about people’s approaches.

Robert McKee’s 'Story' I loved for a long time and I recently found that 'Plot and Structure' which impressed me. However, I have to say, for me, nothing has ever beaten Stephen King’s 'On Writing'.

I've never been able to write a story from the outside. I like to be inside the book and to discover the twists and characters myself. Doubt if this would work for a cleverly constructed crime novel but I’m mainly a comedy writer and my novels are really about the surreal ideas, wordplay, and funny one liners. I've also never been a great plotter and I've never found a method to write like that that works the way that my brain is wired.

However, I decided recently that I wanted to write a good length semi-serious novel and took King's advice. It's really changed the way I think about writing because it has stopped me worrying about my writing. There's a great saying that 'great writing is rewriting' and I think that's very true. Too many people find reasons not to write. They want to get it perfect one day one. They'll keep polishing the beginning of the book and never moving on. I'm currently writing to my word count every day and it has liberated me from that. King's is probably the best pragmatic guide to what it takes to finish a book.

[Keleigh]

I agree! An editor for Simon and Schuster recommended it to me.

Ramsey wrote: "Self-editing for Fiction Writers. Great practical tips on how to spot the problems in your own writing, with some practice exercises to reinforce the lessons.

[bookcover:Self-Editing for Fiction W..."

[James]

Pam (E.P. Scott) wrote: "This in not really a book on writing persay, but is a good thesaurus to have on hand for writing emotion.

The Emotion Thesaurus - Angela Ackerman (Goodreads Author), Becca Puglisi (Goodreads Autho..."

I've been looking for a book like this. I have just snapped it up. Thanks!

[James]

Felicity wrote: "I’m new here so I’m just throwing my thoughts in here since the business of writing is probably one of my favourite subjects and I love to read about people’s approaches.

Robert McKee’s 'Story' I ..."

Story is great! A little self indulgent in places, and goes off on a few too many tangents for my liking, but the advice is sound and practical.

I think King's book is genius in that he recognizes that while good writing is important, it doesn't need to be great. It can be basic and to the point, and get the story across as well, or in face better than a very elegant piece of prose. I suppose it all depends what genre you are writing in but as King, Brown and Grisham have all proven, in general fiction you don't need to write great sentences to be a great writer. The story is more important than anything.

[Redd]

Ooh, that's tough.

I'm gonna say...The Devil's Guide to Hollywood by Joe Eszterhas and Do the Work by Steven Pressfield.

It inspired me to make my film: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Broke-...

[Karen]

I can recommend two great books on writing, A Story is a Promise by Bill Johnson which talks about the importance of theme in stories and How to Write the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.

[Karen]

If you are writing fantasy, I've just started a blog on Goodreads with tips on writing fantasy. You are welcome to stop by and ask questions or add comments! http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

[Stan]

Ramsey wrote: "Self-editing for Fiction Writers. Great practical tips on how to spot the problems in your own writing, with some practice exercises to reinforce the lessons.

[bookcover:Self-Editing for Fiction W..."

Definitely this one.

[Athanasios]

Well not writing per se but helpful in what to do to bring your story to readers after you write are two books. They're both by David Gaughran.

http://www.amazon.com//dp/B005DC68NI/
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPQ6YYI/

[Lori]

Pam (E.P. Scott) wrote: "This in not really a book on writing persay, but is a good thesaurus to have on hand for writing emotion.

The Emotion Thesaurus - Angela Ackerman (Goodreads Author), Becca Puglisi (Goodreads Autho..."

I was going to post this one. I love it!

[Jerry]

Stein on Writing is by far my favorite. I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Jerry

[Kenneth]

I loved King's ON WRITING, as it was more of a show than tell sort of book.

[Bloomy]

How to write effective sentences and avoid common sentence problems in your writing, is the ultimate aim of the book "Sentence Structure Guide". So, if you are planning to master the perfect writing style, this book is a great handbook that will help you a lot. It begins with the smallest part of the sentence (phrases) and goes through the most complicated parts showing step by step the process of building up the perfect writing style.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sent...

[Marie]

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg is very good. I would definitely recommend it. It was required reading in my Creative Writing classes in college, but I don't regret reading it. I have revisited that book many times. It is very useful.

[William]

Pam (E.P. Scott) wrote: "This in not really a book on writing persay, but is a good thesaurus to have on hand for writing emotion.

The Emotion Thesaurus - Angela Ackerman (Goodreads Author), Becca Puglisi (Goodreads Autho..."

Darlene wrote: "I have to say I really hated Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. I felt the authors were very condescending, often referring to want-to-be writers as "hacks!" (But, I'm glad it worked for you, Ramsey..."

Pam - I agree! This book is a godsend for selecting mannerisms and ways of speaking that help to identify your characters!

[Angela]

As a complete pantser, I'd nearly given up hope on finding a way to plot that I can actually live with. Then I downloaded The Story Template: Conquer Writer's Block Using the Universal Structure of Story when it was free for a few days, and it was exactly what I needed.

If you've read Save The Cat (which I'm sure most of you have), you know how useful that book is for story structure, but Story Template goes deeper, enough to flesh out a complete story. It's set up more like a workbook, and you could really just skim through and work on the questions at the end of each chapter. By the time you're 30% through, you'll have enough to basically plot your book. It was amazing! I'm still a pantser, but now at least I have a way to build a roadmap.

[Andrew]

I must recommend On Writing. I found it inspirational from start to finish, from the idea of writing 1,000 words a day (a target I have failed to meet, sadly!)to simplifying your writing to make it more effective. If anybody knows about writing, it's Stephen King, and his suggestions have been enormously useful as far as I'm concerned.

[Cynthia]

I'll throw my two cents in. I read the blogs of authors I like. Kim Harrison had a great post on how she set up a character grid and it helped me more than a lot of books I'd read.

I modified it and find it works as an outline, plot point and character profiles all in one spreadsheet. I also read books by my favorite authors and then read them again paying attention to what they did and how they did it to make a story so compelling.

[R.M.F.]

As good as some of these books are, I'm still not convinced writing can be 'taught.'

[Judith]

R.M.F., I don't know if writing can be taught, but for me, learning the basics helped me become a better writer much more quickly than if I'd just kept struggling with elements myself. I think of it like tennis or other sports. There are certain basics that make a big difference, and then you find your own way of incorporating those to find your own voice and style.

[Franca]

I've read many books on writing but the ones that stand out are: Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress, GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass and Word Painting by Rebecca McClanahan. For plotting I use The Writer's Journey. It works well for the kind of plots I write.
I've just started a blog on writing tips. I offered my first little piece of humble wisdom on the opening paragraph for genre. Check it out and tell me what you think.
http://francescapelaccia.com/blog
The Witch's Salvation
Francesca Pelaccia

[Dave]

I agree with previous comments, "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" (Browne and King) is fantastic. As a quick reference, and mostly related to punctuation and grammar, I like "Editing Made Easy" (Kaplan). After reading these comments I'm going to buy a copy of "The Emotion Thesaurus" for my reference library.