Reviews of the Classic Writing Guides

So why have I added this section plugging other creative writing guides when Novel Writing Help is already jam-packed with writing advice.

Partly I did it because I want this site to be as helpful and informative as it possibly can be - and sometimes that means pointing you in the direction of other writing resources.
And partly I did it because some books on writing are so darn good - classics in their field, if you like - that they really are worth tracking down at Amazon and putting on your bedside table for a little light midnight reading.

I love a good writing guide. I've been reading them for pretty much as long as I've been reading novels themselves, and I continue to devour them to this day. And this section is really about pointing you in the direction of a few of my favorites.

Now, the information you will find in these guides certainly isn't required reading by any means. It won't compete with the nuts-and-bolts advice you will find right here at Novel Writing Help. Rather, it will complement it.

In other words, I haven't selected "how to" guides (however good some of them might be), but instead more general books on writing which look at the bigger picture.

The Elements Of Style by Strunk and White

First published way back in the 1930s, The Elements Of Style by Strunk and White is as relevant today as it was 75 years ago. Style in novel writing (or in writing of any kind) is timeless.

On Writing by Stephen King

A more up to date suggestion now (from 2001, to be exact). Forget about King being a horror writer - this part-autobiography/part guide to writing fiction is a must-read whatever type of novel you intend to write.

Aspects Of the Novel by E. M. Forster

Another oldie, Aspects Of the Novel was first published in 1927 and is based on a course of lectures E. M. Forster (famous for A Passage to India) delivered at Cambridge University. The language Forster uses might be a little dated, but the writing advice is as fresh as ever.

The Art of Fiction by David Lodge

Finally (for now), a contemporary writing guide. Originally published as a series of fifty newspaper articles in the early 1990s, the articles have now been revised, expanded and collected in book form.