Books For Writers - Any Recommendations?

"Hi. Just wondering what books for writers you would recommend?"
- Mo, Birmingham

To be honest, I don't want to recommend any books on writing. Not because there aren't plenty of good ones out there, because there are (though there are several howlers, too).

But the whole point of Novel Writing Help is to provide you with such a comprehensive training in the art and craft of writing fiction that you have no need to study any other creative writing guides.

That is the short answer. Now here is a slightly longer one...

Books for writers fall into 3 broad camps: general, specialized, and classics.

General writing reference books cover everything, from finding ideas through to getting published and everything in between - just like Novel Writing Help does! These books represent excellent starting points for novelists, though they are light on detail. A typical chapter on point of view, for example, might run to 8 or 10 pages (or 3,000 words) - my material on viewpoint runs to over 25,000 words.

Specialized books on creative writing cover topics like writing a plot or creating characters - though you will find that they tend to be broader than the cover makes out.

A lot of books on plotting also stray into characterization, for example, and vice versa. And for every great one, there is another which isn't so great. (I once read a guide to writing dialogue written purely in the form of dialogue - reaching the end was a struggle to say the least.)

Now, I have read virtually every one of these general and specific guides over the last 25 years, and all of the useful advice in them you will find right here at Novel Writing Help. I don't mean in a plagiarized way - just that when a fellow writing teacher has said something new and interesting, I have taken it on board and incorporated it into my own thoughts and theories on the subject.

The third variety of books on creative writing are the classics in their field, and I have recommended some of these in the Other Writing Guides Section.

There, for example, you will find titles by Stephen King and E. M. Forster. I wouldn't say it is essential to read any of these titles, but if you really want to read other books for writers then here is where to start.

Hope that helps.

Harvey