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10 Best Books About Writing Fiction

Someone recently asked me for some fiction writing book recommendations, so here they are!

Some fiction writing teachers try to steer their students clear of books about writing. While it’s true that there’s a lot of bad or dubious writing advice out there, my philosophy is that more information is always better. Over the years, I’ve read voraciously about fiction writing–upwards of 50 books about the writing life, plot, fiction craft, dialogue, character development, you name it. While I got a little something from each one, here are the 5 star gems that are worth sharing. Enjoy!

Best Books About the Writing Life

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

It’s a classic for a reason. Lamott’s trademark humor makes for an effortless read as she shares her wisdom into the process of writing. Equal parts technical help, encouragement, and brutal honesty balance throughout the book, keeping the reader engaged and in good spirits from start to finish.

From Where You Dream, Robert Olen Butler

Butler’s ideas about the process of writing fiction are not necessarily unique, but I’ve found no other book that discusses the writing “trance” as thoroughly as this one. The exercises in this book teach how you to access the writing “dream state” that good stories often come from. The book can be a little esoteric at times, but it’s worth the patience it takes to understand what Butler is getting at here. Especially recommended for writers who have intrusive inner critics, and those who have strong ideas but find that their writing feels lackluster and flat.

The Writing Life, Annie Dillard

This is a short read, so I’ll just provide a titillating quote and you can go pick it up for yourself: “One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now… Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” -Annie Dillard

Best Books About Fiction Craft

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Rennie Browne and Dave King

Hands down, this is the best craft book on the market. It’s written for beginning writers, but is layered and subtle enough to be useful for advanced writers as well. I’ve read and re-read this book at many different stages of my learning process and taken away something new each time. Unlike the cover suggests, this is not a book about grammar. It shows you how to edit for flow and syntax, to properly tag your dialogue, the basics of show-don’t-tell, as well as providing helpful exercises where you get to try your hand at editing once you’ve learned the techniques.

Stein on Writing, Sol Stein

Make no mistake: Sol Stein is a pompous asshole. But he’s also super, duper smart. I consider this to be an advanced craft book, just because of the level of detail he goes into, but I think a beginner would get a lot out of it as well. Another classic, which means it’s almost always at the library.

Writing Fiction: A Guide to the Narrative Craft, Janet Burroway

Yes, this is a text book. Thick. Heavy. Teeny tiny print. But it’s good. And because it has a million editions, you can get an old version used on the internet for like $.04. Especially nice are the full-length short stories that are supplied as examples in the back of every chapter.

Best Book About Dialogue

Writing Dialogue, Tom Chiarella

Chiarella doesn’t bog the reader down with his own set of hard rules about dialogue, instead he skillfully and humorously persuades the reader about what works and what doesn’t. Busting such myths as “dialogue sounds like real speech,” he gives dozens of creepy-writer-stalker tips like “crowding” and “jotting,” which is basically where you eavesdrop on people and write down what they’re saying. I now carry a notebook on my person at all times specifically for this purpose. I think this book might be out of print (yet 50 Shades of Gray makes millions… is there no justice in this world?), but you can still get it on the internet for a decent price. Do it now before it’s too late!

Best Books About Plot

Plot Whisperer, Martha Alderson

Stupid title, great book. Alderson talks about the idea of the “Universal Story,” which is the process of struggle (conflict) and transformation (climax and resolution) present in most stories. These “energy markers,” she says, are so inherent in our lives, and in the very idea of story itself, that they can be found in almost every plotted novel. She then proceeds to go into insane detail describing these markers and how to incorporate them into your own writing in order to make a plot that resonates with readers. From time to time she also drops some wisdom a la The Artist’s Way (which she calls, I believe, “The Writer’s Way”), helping writers to overcome the hurdles of writing a book. While Alderson is not a writer herself, she has been studying plot and assisting writers with plot struggles for over a decade, and her knowledge and credibility shine in this book. I came away with a much deeper understanding of the purpose of plot and how to wield it, and highly recommend this book.

Wired for Story, Lisa Cron

The sensational subtitle (“The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence”) makes it sound like one of those smarmy write-a-novel-in-30-days books, but don’t be fooled. This the best book on plot I’ve read. It’s devoted to the idea of ‘story’–what makes a story, what people are ‘wired’ to look for and want in a story, and how to satisfy those cravings in your fiction. The 'brain science’ part is presented in a very accessible way, and Cron only gives us enough information to make her point, never overloading the reader with jargon. She talks a lot about the brain’s unconscious impulse to track patterns, make connections, and look for cause-and-effect, and how to translate that into good storytelling. Her definition of 'story’ alone is more valuable than 200 pages of most fiction craft books. There are endless gems in this book, and now my copy (that I purchased! with money! that’s saying a lot already) is completely marked up with pencil and sticky notes. I know this is a book I will refer to time and time again. Highly recommended.

Writing Fiction for Dummies, Randy Ingermanson

If you’re looking for advice about craft, the finer points of good prose, or syntax, look elsewhere. But if you want help with your plot and structure, how to organize scenes, when to cut a scene, how to analyze your characters, keeping your story focused, and what order to do it all in, Ingermanson might just blow your mind. His “Snowflake Method” of plotting is loved by thousands, and is discussed in length all over the internet for free. If it resonates with you, you might want to do what I did and buy the book.

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@theliteraryarchitect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler, a writer and developmental editor. For more writing help, download my Free Resource Library for Fiction Writers, join my email list, or check out my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

btw the katy perry/bezos' girlfriend/other four irrelevant billionaires 10 minute space stunt was not the first all female expedition no matter how much they try to market it as such. the first all female mission was in 1963 with soviet cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova, Irina Solovyova and Valentina Ponomaryova - all three of which were working class and had to pass incredibly hard exams to be chosen from 400 potential candidates. just in case we started falling for the propaganda machine again

i hate it when i cant even write a poem about something because its too obvious. like in the airbnb i was at i guess it used to be a kids room cause you could see the imprint of one little glow in the dark star that had been missed and painted over in landlord white. like that's a poem already what's the point

Tangles

All homes of sweet things 

must house their dwellers.

a worry

tangles, my honeycomb

tongue tangles—leaves bees instead

of honey. 

They were in my head?

[Image ID: The Destiel confession meme edited so that Dean answers 'There's a petition to ban conversion therapy in the EU' to Cas' 'I love you'. /End ID]

If you are a citizen in the EU please sign this petition:

eci.ec.europa.eu

European Citizens' Initiative

Give your support !

Sounds about right lol

20 Lies Your Character Believes

(These can shape their behavior, choices, and arcs... until they’re forced to confront them.)

✧ I’m hard to love.

✧ If I don’t succeed, I’m worthless.

✧ People only stick around if I earn them.

✧ If I show weakness, I’ll be left behind.

✧ Everyone eventually leaves.

✧ I’m just like my father/mother—and that’s a bad thing.

✧ I’m too broken to fix.

✧ Happiness isn’t meant for people like me.

✧ The worst thing I ever did defines me forever.

✧ If I’m not useful, I’m disposable.

✧ My anger is dangerous. I have to bury it.

✧ If people really knew me, they’d leave.

✧ I don’t deserve forgiveness.

✧ Love is weakness.

✧ Control is safety.

✧ I can fix everyone else but not myself.

✧ I owe it to them to suffer.

✧ If I rest, I’ll fall apart.

✧ Hope is a trap.

✧ This is the best version of me they’ll ever get.

A lot of fiction these days reads as if—as I saw Peter Raleigh put it the other day, and as I’ve discussed it before—the author is trying to describe a video playing in their mind. Often there is little or no interiority. Scenes play out in “real time” without summary. First-person POV stories describe things the character can’t see, but a distant camera could. There’s an overemphasis on characters’ outfits and facial expressions, including my personal pet peeve: the “reaction shot round-up” in which we get a description of every character’s reaction to something as if a camera was cutting between sitcom actors.

When I talk with other creative writing professors, we all seem to agree that interiority is disappearing. Even in first-person POV stories, younger writers often skip describing their character’s hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, memories, or reactions. This trend is hardly limited to young writers though. I was speaking to an editor yesterday who agreed interiority has largely vanished from commercial fiction, and I think you increasingly notice its absence even in works shelved as “literary fiction.” When interiority does appear on the page, it is often brief and redundant with the dialogue and action. All of this is a great shame. Interiority is perhaps the prime example of an advantage prose as a medium holds over other artforms.

fascinated by this article, "Turning Off the TV in Your Mind," about the influences of visual narratives on writing prose narratives. i def notice the two things i excerpted above in fanfic, which i guess makes even more sense as most of the fic i read is for tv and film. i will also be thinking about its discussion of time in prose - i think that's something i often struggle with and i will try to be more conscious of the differences between screen and page next time i'm writing.

Making Fight Scenes Sound Nicer

Euphonics is all about how the words "feel". By incorporating certain sounds, you can influence the mood of the passage.

Mood: Foreboding

use words with 'ow', 'oh', 'ou', 'oo' sonds. These are good for building tension before the fight.

moor, growl, slow, wound, soon, show, show, grow, tow, loom, howl, cower, mound.

Mood: Spooky

use words with 's' sounds, combined with an 'i' sound.

hiss, sizzle, crisp, sister, whisper, sinister, glisten, stick.

Mood: Acute Fear

use word with 'ee/ea' sounds, with a few 's' sounds.

squeal, scream, squeeze, creak, steal, fear, clear, sheer, stream

Mood: Fighting Action

use short words iwth 't', 'p' and 'k' sounds.

cut, block, top, shoot, tackle, trick, kick, grip, grab, grope, punch, drop, pound, poke, cop, chop.

Mood: Speed

use short words with 'r' sounds

run, race, riot, rage, red, roll, rip, hurry, thrust, scurry, ring, crack

Mood: Trouble

use words with 'tr' sounds to signal trouble

trouble, trap, trip, trough, treat, trick, treasure, atroscious, attract, petrol, trance, try, traitor

Mood: Macho Power

If you wan to emphasize the fighters' masculinity, use 'p' sounds.

pole, power, police, cop, pry, pile, post, prong, push, pass, punch, crop, crap, trap, pack, point, part

Mood: Punishment

If your fight involves an element of punishment use 'str' sounds

strict, astride, strike, stripe, stray, strident, stroke, strip, instruct, castrate strive

Mood: Defeat

use 'd' sonds

despari, depressed, dump, dig, dank, damp, darkness, drag, ditch, drop, dead, deep, dark, dull

Mood: Victory

use 'j' and 'ch' sounds

joy, cheer, jubilant, jeer, chuck, chariot, choose, chip, jest, jamboree, jig, jazz, jive, rejoice, rejoin

In print, the effectiveness of such euphonics will be very subtle, and it can only serve as an embellishment to what you already have.

Don't use or replace words for the sake of achieving euphonic effects, but this can be something to keep in mind when you are editing your draft!

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