When other authors ask me to recommend my favorite writing books, I’ve noticed that my answers almost always include the same recommendations.
Authors go through a unique formative experience, each individually, and the works that stick during this period will be ones that they’ll continue going back to - even years later. It’s as important as the music you discovered back in your teenage years.
Need some writing inspiration, or just damn good writing advice?
Here’s my list of 6 essential books (that’ll change how you write forever).
1. The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
Hunter S. Thompson -
Amazon
The Great Shark Hunt is a gonzo journalism standard, and it’s where you should go after Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. While it’s not a book about writing advice, it contains plenty of advice and thoughts that could be useful for any serious wordsmith.
The collection of Hunter S. Thompson’s letters and columns first published in 1979, exploring the author’s thoughts on pop culture, sports, politics, and more.
One of the articles addresses the world of freelance journalism, starting with the following phrase:
“You asked me for an article on whatever I wanted to write about and since you don't pay I figure that gives me carte blanche.”
It expands into a feature about author and journalist Lionel Olay, which Thompson describes as “a freelance writer, hustler, grass-runner, and general free spirit.”
If you didn’t know, Olay wrote The Dark Corners of the Night and Heart of a Stranger; the author was a personal inspiration to Thompson.
What’s the lesson?
Write, and write well - occasionally, write for free, and it could get you as many readers as a full-page, paid advertisement would have done.
2. Mugging the Muse: Writing Fiction for Love and Money
Holly Lisle -
Amazon
Sympathy for the Devil is one of my all-time favorite works of fiction, with a plot that hinges upon a career nurse that requests ultimate forgiveness - for the devil himself. It’s a rare, deliciously dark plot that I can only describe as a true page-turner -- and how I discovered this particular tome of writing advice.
Mugging the Muse is by the same author, Holly Lisle, and one of the few writing books that doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to what full-time authorship is about.
It’s not just about your sentences and paragraphs, but also about financial planning and survival. As the book says, you’re going to mix successful months with what the author terms “canned bean months” -- and it can be true when you’re making a living as a writer.
3. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King -
Amazon
Stephen King is an author that you’re either going to love or hate, and each for your own reasons: there’s classic horror like The Shining and Secret Window, Secret Garden -- but also an expansion into crime-writing that includes novels like The Colorado Kid.
On Writing is filled with rare, useful writing advice that comes from an experienced voice.
In it, you’ll find gems like the quotes, “Books are a uniquely portable magic,” and “The road to hell is paved with adverbs,”
King recommends persistence and documents, here, some of his own writing journey.
The book uses the hotel-themed horror story 1408 as its main plotting example -- and it’s a great way to illustrate how a story and its scenes can evolve into something an editor will publish.
4. How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling
James N. Frey -
Amazon
The Guide to Dramatic Storytelling first appeared in 1987, with a later sequel published in 1994: you’ll find this book on many recommended reading lists, and that’s because it’s a solid book of writing advice -- and it takes you through essential things like plotting, scenes, structure, and creating stronger stories.
Even if you’ve never read anything else by James N. Frey, I would recommend that you page through this one at least once.
Learn that dramatic storytelling sells, but also learn that overly-dramatic storytelling doesn’t.
The sentence that stands out the most through the years of reading (and re-reading this book) would be this one: “To set a forest on fire, you light a match. To set a character on fire, you put him in conflict.”
Have fun with that.
5. Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers
Lawrence Block -
Amazon
Lawrence Block is a crime fiction author, whom is perhaps best known for creating the private investigator Matt Scudder. However, since this is a post on writing advice, I’m going to recommend his book Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers.
He’s been writing since the publication of his first novel in 1958, and here’s where you can find some of the best advice on writing fiction while you’re getting paid for it.
The golden phrase from this book is, “If you are trying to write realistic fiction and you people it extensively with overdrawn characters, you’re working against yourself.”
In simple terms, don’t spread your characters (or your plot) too thinly: readers always notice.
Enjoy your story, and you’ll find that more readers are willing to do the same.
6. The Elements of Style
William Strunk Jr. -
Amazon
The Elements of Style, also called Strunk & White for short, is one of the books you’ll find recommended in one of this list’s other recommendations (Stephen King’s On Writing).
It’s been in regular publication (with multiple editions) since 1920, and it’s a standard within newspaper journalism and other professional writing. You’re missing out if you haven’t browsed through The Elements of Style at least once.
The advice I’ve relied on the longest from this particular book says, “Omit needless words,” -- or in longer terms: “When a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.”
Bio: Alex J. Coyne is a journalist, author, and proofreader. He has written for a variety of publications and websites, with a radar calibrated for gothic, gonzo, and the weird. Sometimes, he co-writes with others.
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