Favorite writing books

Writers are fond of sharing information — I mean, writing is our thing so writing on writing is practically a foregone conclusion among the activities of published writers.

Other writers like reading the books by already-successful writers.  I know that I find them useful when I’m mapping a new story. Portions of the books remind me of the obvious things I’ve missed and the topics jog my memory: “Oh, yes! The character needs a goal!”

My book-writing books collection goes back over 30 years to my subscriptions to Book of the Month Club and Quality Paperback Books Club. They were two of the various mail-order book clubs that served readers as online booksellers do today — and, I’m surprised to see, many of them are still in business.

On another note, yesterday, I logged into Goodreads and discovered that I could rate and review every last book I’ve ever ordered from Amazon. For me, this goes back to the previous century, and to years before my husband and I moved back to the States from Europe. I was surprised I’d been ordering books from Amazon that long. At the time, living in non-English-speaking Europe, Amazon ordering was a godsend; now, it’s a reflex.

The college courses I had available to me overseas depended on the people in the local area who met the teacher-qualifications of the overseas division of the University of Maryland. No teacher, no course. Other than basic English courses, I don’t remember any creative writing courses among the history courses and professional development type courses that soldiers and airmen would find useful.  Of course, I only looked at the courses available where I lived — commuting to night classes was out of the question. Because of this, writing books (and later, audio books and video courses) became my instructors.

Books

  • Agatha Christie (biography), Janet Morgan
  • The Anatomy of Story, John Truby
  • The Art of Dramatic Writing, Lajos Egri
  • The Art of Fiction, John Gardner
  • The Career Novelist, Donald Maass
  • Comedy Writing Secrets, Melvin Helitzer
  • The Craft of Prose, Robert Woodward & H. Wendell Smith
  • The Cuckoo’s Egg, Cliff Stoll
  • Creating Fiction, Julie Checkoway, Ed.
  • Don’t Murder Your Mystery, Chris Roerden
  • The Emotion Thesaurus, Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
  • Fiction Writer’s Workshop, Josip Novakovich
  • The Fine Art of Murder, Ed Gorman, Ed.
  • The First Five Pages, Joah Lukeman
  • How to Read a Book, Mortimer Adler and Charles van Doren
  • How to Write a Damn Fine Novel, James N. Frey
  • How to Write Funny, Johm Kachuba, Ed.
  • How to Write Killer Fiction, Carolyn Wheat
  • How to Write Mysteries, Shannon OCork
  • How to Write, Harry Bingham
  • The Joy of Writing Sex, Elizabeth Benedict
  • Making a Literary Life, Carolyn See
  • Mystery Writer’s Handbook (MWA), Lawrence Treat, Ed.
  • Mystery Writing In A Nutshell, Joh McAleer & Andrew McAleer
  • On Writing Well, William Zinsser
  • Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, Linda Rodriguez
  • The Province of Prose, Keast & Streeter
  • Punctuate It Right, Harry Shaw
  • Reading Like a Writer, Francine Prose
  • Revising Fiction, David Madden
  • Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View, Jill Elizabeth Nelson
  • Story, Robert McKee
  • Style, Toward Clarity and Grace, Joseph Williams
  • A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie, Robert Barnard
  • The Thirty-eight Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes …, Jack Bickham
  • Twenty Master Plots (and how to build them), Ronald B Tobias
  • The Weekend Novelist, Robert J. Ray
  • The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery, Robert J. Ray & Jack Remick
  • We Know What You Want:  How they change your mind, Martin Howard
  • Wired for Story, Lisa Cron
  • Write Away, Elizabeth George
  • A Writer’s Coach, Jack Hart
  • A Writer’s Time, Kenneth Atchity
  • The Writer as an Artist, Pat Schneider
  • The Writer’s Home Companion, Joan Bolker
  • The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler
  • Writers on Writing, NY Times Collected Essay
  • Writing Fiction Step by Step, Josip Novakovich
  • Writing Tools, Roy Peter Clark
  • Writing Subtext, Linda Seger
  • Writing the Breakout Novel, Donald Maass

 

Kindle

  • 2K to 10K, Rachel Aaron
  • 7 Secrets of the Prolific, Hillary Rettig
  • APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur, Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch
  • Building Your Book for Kindle, Kindle Direct Publishing
  • Bullies, Bastards and Bitches, Jessica Morrell
  • The Complete Bullshit-Free and Totally Tested Writing Guide, Gabe Berman
  • Crime Interviews [of authors], Len Wanner
  • Discoverability: A WMG Writers Guide, Kristine Katherine Rusch
  • Elements of Fiction Writing: Character & Viewpoint, Orson Scott Card
  • The Elements of Mystery Fiction:  Writing the Modern Whodunit, William Tappley
  • Fine-Tuning Fiction, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
  • Getting Into Character:  Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors, Brandilyn Collins
  • Growing Your Audience, Jacquie Rogers
  • How Not to Write a Novel, Gene Grossman
  • How Novels Work, John Mullan
  • How to Write a Sentence And How to Read One, Stanley Fish
  • How to Write Killer Fiction, Carolyn Wheat
  • The Language of Fiction:  A Writer’s Stylebook, Brian Shawver
  • Make a Scene, Jordan Rosenfeld
  • Making Story: 21 Writers on How They Plot,  Bill Crider
  • The Mindset Lists of American History, Tom McBride and Ron Nief
  • The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction, Stephen Koch
  • The Moral Premise:  Harnessing Virtue and Vice  for Box Office Success, Stanley D. Williams
  • Nail Your Novel:  Why Writers Abandon Books …, Roz Morris
  • Naked Writing, Glenys O’Connell
  • Naming the World, Bret Anthony Johnston
  • The Plot Skeleton, Angela Hunt
  • Plot Versus Character, Jeff Gerke
  • Professional Plot Outline Mini-course, Holly Lisle
  • The Road to Self-Publishing, Kaye George
  • The Scene Book:  A Primer, Sandra Scofield
  • Secrets of Successful Writers, Darrell Pitt
  • Self-editing for Fiction Writers, Renni Browne & Dave King
  • Smart Formatting: How to format & upload your novel …, Shauna Bickley
  • Story Structure Architect, Victoria Lynn Schmidt
  • Vanity Fair’s How a Book is Born, Graydon Carter & Keith Gessen
  • What’s Your Book?, Brooke Warner
  • Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell
  • Writer’s Block is Bunk, Lev Rapael
  • The Writer’s Guide to Psychology, Carolyn Kaufman
  • Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell
  • Write the Fight Right, Alan Baxter
  • The Writer’s Guide to Psychology: How to Write Accurately about Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment and Human Behavior, Carolyn Kaufman
  • Writing a Killer Thriller, Jodie Renner
  • Writing Active Setting, Mary Buckham
  • Writing Fiction for Dummies, Peter Economy
  • Writing the Novel They Can’t Put Down, Patricia Ryan
  • You’re Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop, John Scalzi

 

Nook

  • The Liar’s Companion, Lawrence Block
  • Save the Cat, Blake Snyder
  • Save the Cat Strikes Back, Blake Snyder
  • Save the Cat Goes to the Movies, Blaker Snyder
  • Sleuths, Inc., L.S. Walsh
  • Spy the Lie, Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, Susan Carnicero, Dan Tennant
  • Talking About Detective Fiction, P.D. James
  • Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel, Hallie Ephron
  • The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

 

Teaching Company/The Great Courses

  • Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write About Anything, Prof. Dorsey Armstrong
  • Becoming a Great Essayist, Prof. Jennifer Cognard-Black
  • Building Great Sentences, Prof. Brooks Landon
  • Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever You Are, Prof. David Livermore
  • Espionage and Covert Operations, Prof. Vejas Liulevicius
  • Explaining Social Deviance, Prof. Paul Root
  • Forensic History, Prof. Elizabeth Murray
  • Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature, Prof. Thomas Shippey
  • How Conversation Works, Prof. Anne Curzan
  • How to Publish Your Book, Prof. Jane Friedman
  • The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction, Prof. David Schmid
  • Trails of Evidence, Prof. Elizabeth Murray
  • Understanding Complexity, Prof. Scott Page
  • Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior, Prof. Mark Leary
  • Writing Creative Nonfiction, Prof. Tilar Mazzeo
  • Your Deceptive Mind, Prof. Steven Novella

 

Audible.com

  • Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen, Robert McKee
  • The Hero’s 2 Journeys: Michael Hauge, Christopher Vogel
  • Pefecting Plot: Charting the Hero’s Journey, William Bernhardt
  • The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century, Steven Pinker
  • Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story, K.M. Weiland