70+ Books on How to Write

Books on writing can be helpful to writers of all levels, whether just starting out or professional. Some books focus on the technical aspects of writing, such as grammar and punctuation, while other texts dig into the mechanical aspects, such as developing characters or plotting a story. Others still illuminate the tricks of the trade — particularly important in genres such as humor, mystery or memoir.

70+ Books on How to Write

No matter what your level of writing experience, a book on writing can help you improve your skills. Links for each book take you to Amazon.com. If you buy there, I get a small percentage. But feel free to buy from your local independent bookseller too. If you have a book suggestion I’ve missed, email me at peter @ petermountford.com.

My Favorite Writing Craft Books

Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner

I read this in graduate school, and really loved the prompts at the end. Also, while aspects of it feel kind of outmoded, a lot of this is great for the fundamentals of craft. 

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (A Memoir of the Craft) by Stephen King

The ultimate writing life book that will make you feel less alone as a writer. 

Art of Perspective: Who Tells the Story by Christopher Castanelli

Point of view is notoriously difficult, and in this slender book Castanelli is both interesting in a philosophical way about point of view, while also providing a lot of very specific and clear thinking about the craft of perspective. 

Thrill Me by Ben Percy

Percy very deeply understands story and what makes readers pay attention. And in this book he does a great job of providing tips and advice on how to make your stories engaging. 

Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee

While this is, strictly speaking, a screenwriting book, it’s useful for everyone – a definitive book on how to engage and hold a reader’s attention. 

The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing by Richard Hugo

While this is directed at poets, there’s much here for prose writers to learn, s well. Hugo focuses on how words and specific things and places (towns, for example) can be used to “trigger” creative work. 

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer

Dreyer is remarkable with the specificity of language, has a deep passion and knowledge about usage, grammar, and more. These are subjects that people tend to dread, but he brings them alive here. 

Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction by Charles Baxter

A great and very useful book full of Baxter’s most beloved craft essays. They are expansive and yet precise, and will contain wonderful examples of the concepts he’s discussing.

The 70+ Best Books on How to Write

Not in any particular order, but a library of writing books both in and out of print that I’ve collected over the years. If you have a favorite or know of one I’ve missed, reach out to me.

Books on the Writing Life  

Learn about the path and process of becoming a writer, including writing habits and ways writers move in the world.

• The Writer's Chapbook: A Compendium of Fact, Opinion, Wit, and Advice from The Paris Review Interviews by The Paris Review

• Writer's Chapbook by George Plimpton 

• How To Write An Autobiographical Novel: Essays by Alexander Chee

• Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami

• The Writing Life by Annie Dillard 

• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

• Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood

Fiction and Craft

By craft, I mean the sometimes-mystical, sometimes-practical aspects of writing that range from workshopping a novel to story elements that feel like magic.

• Aspects of the Novel: The Timeless Classic on Novel Writing by E.M. Forster

• Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K. Le Guin

• Craft in the Real World: Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping by Matthew Salesses

• Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction by Jeff VanderMeer

• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders

• Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose

• Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling

  by Donald Maass

• The Writer's Notebook: Craft Essays from Tin House by Dorothy Allison

Creative Nonfiction Writing Books

Creative nonfiction can include personal essays, reported essays, narrative nonfiction, and flash nonfiction.

• Crafting The Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Non-Fiction by Dinty W. Moore

• Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by Jon Franklin

• To Show and to Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction by Phillip Lopate

• Tell It Slant by Brenda Miller 

• Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction by Jack Hart

• Writing Wild: Forming a Creative Partnership with Nature by Tina Welling

• You Can’t Make This Stuff Up by Lee Gutkind

• Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers' Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University by Mark Kramer

• The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers by Dinty W. Moore

• Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction and Get It Published

  by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato

Short story and Shorter stories

Advice and strategies for writing short stories, storytelling, flash fiction, and other ways of sharing brief tales.

• Crafting Novels & Short Stories: The Complete Guide to Writing Great Fiction by Writer’s Digest Books

• Long Story Short: The Only Storytelling Guide You'll Ever Need by Joe Bunting

• Short-Form Creative Writing: A Writer's Guide and Anthology by H. K. Hummel

Grammar and Writing Tools

If your (or you’re) confused about grammar, or just want to learn why elegant sentences turn out as they do—try these books focused on word choice, style, grammar, punctuation, and more.

• Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwartz

• Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark 

• Writers' Choices: Grammar to Improve Style by Michael Kischner

• The Art of Description: World into Word by Mark Doty

• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King

• The Art of Styling Sentences by Ann Longknife and K.D. Sullivan

• A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation by Noah Lukeman

• A Writer's Coach: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work

  by Jack R. Hart

• The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

  by Noah Lukeman

• The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

  by Steven Pinker

• Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing

  by Patricia T. O'Conner

Books on Writing Memoir

Learn to write your life story or memoir with masters of the craft like Mary Karr.

• The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr

• Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir by William Zinsser

• Your Life as Story: Discovering the "New Autobiography" and Writing Memoir as Literature by Tristine Rainier

• Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past by William Zinsser

• Writing True by Sondra Perl

• Writing & Selling Your Memoir: How to Craft Your Life Story So That Somebody Else Will Actually Want to Read It by Paula Balzer  

• Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature by Meredith Maran

• Writing Is My Drink: A Writer's Story of Finding Her Voice (and a Guide to How You Can Too) by Theo Pauline Nestor

Books on Plot and Plotting

Figuring what happens next can be anything but easy. Here are some books to map your narrative, drawn from Hollywood and fiction plotters.

• Plot & Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot That Grips Readers from Start to Finish by James Scott Bell

• Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder

• Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting Paperback by Syd Field

• Story Engineering by Larry Brooks

• Story : Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting Paperback by Robert McKee

• Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story by K.M. Weilan

• Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling Paperback by Donald Maass

• 20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them by Ronald B. Tobias

Books on Creativity and Writer’s Block

These books can instigate your next short story and help cure your writer’s block.

• Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer by Bret Anthony Johnston

• The 3 A.M. Epiphany: Uncommon Writing Exercises that Transform Your Fiction by Brian Kiteley

• What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays

• Writing from the Senses: 59 Exercises to Ignite Creativity and Revitalize Your Writing by Laura Deutsch

• Fire Up Your Writing Brain: How to Use Proven Neuroscience to Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Writer by Susan Reynolds