For the Aspiring Writer
Discover essential books for aspiring writers to hone their craft. From storytelling techniques to publishing tips, find the best resources to start your writing journey today.
Book
Bird by Bird
by Anne Lamott
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ā¢ An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writerās world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times). āSuperb writing adviceā¦. Hilarious, helpful, and provocative.ā āThe New York Times Book Review For a quarter century, more than a million readersāscribes and scribblers of all ages and abilitiesāhave been inspired by Anne Lamottās hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anneās fatherāalso a writerāin the iconic passage that gives the book its title: āThirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that heād had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brotherās shoulder, and said, āBird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.āā
Book
On Becoming a Novelist
by John W Gardner
"One of the greatest creative writing teachers we've ever had." āFrederick Busch On Becoming a Novelist contains the wisdom accumulated during John Gardner's distinguished twenty-year career as a fiction writer and creative writing teacher. With elegance, humor, and sophistication, Gardner describes the life of a working novelist; warns what needs to be guarded against, both from within the writer and from without; and predicts what the writer can reasonably expect and what, in general, he or she cannot. "For a certain kind of person," Gardner writes, "nothing is more joyful or satisfying than the life of a novelist." But no other vocation, he is quick to add, is so fraught with professional and spiritual difficulties. Whether discussing the supposed value of writer's workshops, explaining the role of the novelist's agent and editor, or railing against the seductive fruits of literary elitism, On Becoming a Novelist is an indispensable, life-affirming handbook for anyone authentically called to the profession. "A miraculously detailed account of the creative process."āAnne Tyler, Baltimore Sun
Book
The Art of Fiction
by John Gardner
This classic guide, from the renowned novelist and professor, has helped transform generations of aspiring writers into masterful writersāand will continue to do so for many years to come. John Gardner was almost as famous as a teacher of creative writing as he was for his own works. In this practical, instructive handbook, based on the courses and seminars that he gave, he explains, simply and cogently, the principles and techniques of good writing. Gardnerās lessons, exemplified with detailed excerpts from classic works of literature, sweep across a complete range of topicsāfrom the nature of aesthetics to the shape of a refined sentence. Written with passion, precision, and a deep respect for the art of writing, Gardnerās book serves by turns as a critic, mentor, and friend. Anyone who has ever thought of taking the step from reader to writer should begin here.
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The Lie That Tells a Truth: A Guide to Writing Fiction
by John Dufresne
"This is an essential guide for writers in general, fiction writers in particular, beginning writers, serious writers, and anyone facing a blank page"--Page 4 of cover.
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You've Got to Read This
by Ron Hansen
Thirty-four of America's most distinguished fiction writers--including Oscar Hijuelos, John Irving, and Joyce Carol Oates--introduce the short stories that inspired them most.
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On Writing
by Stephen King
The author shares his insights into the craft of writing and offers a humorous perspective on his own experience as a writer.
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Aspects of the Novel
by Edward Morgan Forster
A highly original and intelligent investigation of the novel from celebrated writer and "gentle genius" E. M. Forster E. M. Forster's renowned guide to writing sparkles with wit and insight for contemporary writers and readers. With lively language and excerpts from well-known classics, Forster takes on the seven elements vital to a novel: story, people, plot, fantasy, prophecy, pattern, and rhythm. He not only defines and explains such terms as "round" versus "flat" characters (and why both are needed for an effective novel), but also provides examples of writing from such literary greats as Dickens and Austen. Forster's original commentary illuminates and entertains without lapsing into complicated, scholarly rhetoric, coming together in a key volume on writing that avoids chronology and what he calls "pseudoscholarship."
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Book
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
Three stories are told: a young Southerner wants to become a writer; a turbulent love-hate affair between a brilliant Jew and a beautiful Polish woman; and of an awful wound in that woman's past--one that impels both Sophie and Nathan toward destruction.
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Letters to a Young Poet
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters written to F.X. Kappus during the years 1903-1908.