Meryl's Notes Blog
Things wordy, geeky, and webbyTop 25 Books for Writers: Nominations
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 at 6:31 AM |
It’s been two years since Michael Stelzner published the fabulous top 10 books for writers, most of which I own. Why do this when the list he has is on target and it’s only two years old? Several reasons:
- A couple of good books have come out since then.
- To reach a broader audience with social networks as Twitter has grown a lot since 2007.
- To expand the list to 25 books. How many of you can honestly say you have 10 or fewer books on writing? (Me not raising my hand.)
- We may have gotten around to reading more books since then — goodness knows I have a lot still waiting for me to read.
The books can include references such as Flip Dictionary
To keep things simple, nominate ONE book in the comments. If someone nominates a book you love, you might want to nominate a second favorite as the voting will come later.
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What is your favorite book that helps you in your writing career?
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39 comments
Stephen King – On Writing
Liz S’s blog …Sinking your teeth…into osteoporosis
I could write my own list of 25…but I only get one choice???
Okay, well, then, I guess I’ll say Bird By Bird by Nathalie Goldberg in the inspirational category.
[...] your favorite writing book? Swing on over to Meryl K. Evans blog and comment. She’d like to know what you [...]
This is so hard. Just one, huh? I’m gonna go with The Renegade Writer by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell because I’m always one for breaking the rules!
Mary’s blog …Here’s Your Chance to Win 500 Business Cards!
I just realized that I don’t own a single writing book except The Elements of Style.
Looking forward to your list. I think I need to hit the library to grab a few writing books and spiff my writing up!
Karen putz’s blog …Saying Goodbye to Summer
I would have to say, since I haven’t read the majority of best selling books in my personal library, I’ll have to nominate one I read from the public library.
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass is one of the best I’ve read. There’s another one but I can’t think of the woman’s name or the exact title: she writes fiction and wrote a book on writing, and I loved so many of her suggestions.
Dawn Herring’s blog …"How may I help you?"
Definitely “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott! I’m pretty sure I couldn’t live without an up-to-date version of the AP Stylebook though.
Thursday Bram’s blog …Review: The Principles of Successful Freelancing
Mine is Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird – wonderfully sincere, funny and helpful. Just made so much sense to me – loved it!
Amy
xx
amypalko’s blog …September Scoop
I’ve re-read William Zinsser’s On Writing Well every year since I first read it in high school. Excellent book.
(@themamawriter – psst, isn’t Bird by Bird written by Anne Lamott?)
I love Ursula K. LeGuin’s Steering the Craft, a self-guided writing workshop for individuals or critique groups.
I nominate “Style: Toward Clarity and Grace” by Joseph M. Williams, hands-down the best book on improving writing mechanics I’ve ever read.
Jesse Hines’s blog …3 Fun Resources That Will Help You Write Concisely
[...] Meryl at Meryl’s Notes Blog is running a poll to compile a list of the Top 25 Books for Writers. [...]
Oh, hilarious. I was divided in my choice between Bird by Bird and Writing Down the Bones, so look what I did. I squished them together. My final choice was…Bird By Bird by Anne Lamott. Sorry, Nathalie! I love your book too, but Meryl made me choose.
I really like “Immediate Fiction” by Jerry Cleaver. It really encouraged me to up the angst for my MC.
I really enjoyed Stephen King’s On Writing.
I’m going to have to go with the “Elements of Style” by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B.White.
Though I’ve read two other great books on writing, this one really got me rolling down my writing journey, so it stands out in my mind.
I also give it points for being so concise and as a result not very intimidating.
For those starting out on their writing path, this is a good bet. It’s basic and effective.
Bamboo Forest’s blog …A Chance of a Lifetime Only Comes Once
I loved Bird by Bird, and Stephen King’s book was great. For inspirational and “pull-your-socks-up” books I’d add Dorothea Brande’s classic, Becoming a Writer.
There are countless others that have helped me immeasurably over the years. Ted Hughes’ Letters is a big book but he wrote marvellous stuff in there about writing and the creative process. And Henry James’ famous Forewords to his novels, ditto. Aspects of the Novel, by EM Forster, was very important to me. And Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form, by Philip Hobsbaum, and Kenneth Koch’s great book on teaching poetry-writing to children, Rose, Where Did You Get That Red?. The famous Paris Review interviews with writers.
Michael Stelzner’s original list is mainly about copywriting, though; to that I’d add Ogilvy on Advertising.
But I think, for reference and usefulness and all kinds of things, no matter WHAT kind of writing you’re doing, my vote goes to the Chicago Manual of Style. It’s huge, thorough, honest, authoritative, entertaining, and always there to refer to. Knocks Strunk and White into a cocked hat.
Sorry, forgot. I can also recommend Chris Hamilton-Emery’s 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell – it’s transferrable advice of use to any writer on how to get your stuff out there. Published by Salt Publishing.
@Katy “not related to me” Evans-Bush
I want this to be about all kinds of writing. I hope to sort them by categories depending what we get. I didn’t want to do top 10 for fiction writers, top 10 for business writers and so on because not all genres have 10 high quality books.
For me, it’s “William Zinsser’s On Writing Well”
-Mig
Miguel Wickert’s blog …A Very SimplyBlog July
Stephen King’s On Writing. Simply the best.
Hi Meryl,
Ah, well I think the categories overlap a lot – I’m a corporate writer, poet, book reviewer and blogger & a lot of the same rules apply to all. Why I voted for Chicago Manual of Style! Anyway it’s a great idea to ask people for their favourite books.
THE WAR OF ART — STEVEN PRESSFIELD. It’s a classic. I re-read it every year. Good for the business of writing … and life.
Thus far, it is The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. For a different kind of direction, certainly. And it is early yet in my focused writing.
Since someone already named Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel, I’ll say Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat. Though it’s marketed as a book for screenwriters, it’s really a book for storytellers – lots of gold.
I have many of those mentioned above and they are all good, but my favorite is an old one, “If You Want to Write” by Brenda Ueland. Great for inspiration.
Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones” is the one I gift the most to writers. King’s “On Writing” is also a great one!
Mike Sansone’s blog …Brunch n Brains: Get Your Team Addicted to POT
There are some great ones on the list already. I’d like to nominate James Scott Bell’s PLOT AND STRUCTURE. His book on revision is excellent as well. Lots of practical advice for the new writer.
So many great books already listed! I love and re-read honest, inspirational books such as “Bird by Bird” and helpful reference books such as “The Elements of Style” — but sometimes I just need the burst of energy and color and humor of the book “Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper” by SARK to get the words moving again. It works for me, so it has a place on my shelf next to the classic writing bibles.
Jane Koenen Bretl’s blog …on the shores of Michipie
Elements of Style by Strunk and White.
A classic!
Lisa Sparks’s blog …Power Speaking Tip #3
I’ve been wracking my brain but keep coming back to Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I know it’s already on the list, but it’s just THAT good!
An oldie, but a goodie: “Make Your Words Work” by Gary Provost.
Bill Harper’s blog …R.E.S.P… er, can I phone a friend?
David Morrell’s Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing doesn’t get enough attention. I feel a need to mention it when people start mentioning King’s book.
I’m currently reviewing Jessica Page Morrell’s new book which is excellent. Her older book Between the Lines: The Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing is excellent for editing/polishing a draft (it’s probably good for the first draft too, but I never remember to consider too many intricacies in the first draft as I’m too busy trying to get words on paper so that I have something to edit).
Meryl –
I’ve read and re-read Steven Pressfield’s “The War of Art” about overcoming resistance.
This Business of Writing — Gregg Levoy
John Hewitt’s blog …30 Poems in 30 Days 2009: Day Fifteen
The Letters of Dalton Trumbo.
This is a follow up to my previous post. The other book I was thinking of is Write Away by Elizabeth George. She had some very keen insight into the connections of scenes throughout the novel, which helps to avoid holes in the story arc. It’s definitely worth the read.
Dawn Herring’s blog …Unboxed
Hands down, “Reading like a Writer,” by Francine Prose. It has given me the ability to break down why a piece of writing is good, and there’s no better way to learn.
MeiLin Miranda’s blog …Emphasize/leverage strengths + offset/reverse weaknesses = overall strategy
The Synonym Finder by J.I. Rodale is THE MUST HAVE book for all writers. So much better than a thesaurus, it helps writers discover the most precise, specific words for clear, concise writing.
I love the Synonym Finder so much I devoted a video to it: http://www.yourwritelife.com/2009/09/24-video-my-fave-book-for-writers/
Lots of great selections posted here. I could easily vote for everyone of those too, but I’m sticking with the Synonym Finder as my all-time take to it to the deserted island book.
Debra Marrs’s blog …The Secrets of Publishing Success – Jane Friedman’s 2009 Tough Love Guide