Top 10 Books Writers Need

Writing is a solitary life. It’s not easy, but I find it lots of fun. One thing all writers need are great books to help them with plotting, editing, finding the right words and emotions, constructing the story world and more.

This blog post is focused on the Top 10 Books Writers Need.

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Plotting Books Writers Need

According to What is Plot? An Author’s Guide to Storytelling: Plot is the sequence of connected events that make up a narrative in a novel. Generally, a plot in fiction builds up to a climax and ends in a resolution at the finish of the story.

And according to What Is a Plot? Why Good Writers Need to Know the Answer to This Question: The plot ensures that every important element of the story is in place to make sense to the reader and keep the story moving. It also contains the conflict or problem that the main characters must tackle in order to reach their happy ending. Every compelling story, even a short story, will have a plot.

As you can see, plot is IMPORTANT! Without a plot, you don’t have a story!

• James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure is the best, I think. He explains what plot is and guides the reader through all the ins & out and details–complete with graphics. That is very helpful for those of us who need those visuals.
• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel – I use Save the Cat! Beat Sheets to plot my story. Sometimes I fill it in after I write a section (usually I do), which makes me more of a pantser than a plotter, but what the Beat Sheets do is give you certain guidelines of where specific things need to happen. For instance, I know at a certain number of words (percentage of my projected word count) that I need to have the theme, then the inciting incident, midpoint, etc.
• DiAnn Mills’ The Dance of Character & Plot is very step-by-step and also has lots of definitions and graphics. If you want to learn about character & plot, get this book.

Editing Books Writers Need

The dreaded editing phase is actually something I enjoy. I know I’m weird. I’ve found several great books writers need on editing:

• The Elements of Style, Strunk & White
• 7 Cheats Sheets to Cut Editing Costs, Debra L Butterfield
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Browne & King

Other books I think writers need

1. A Novel Idea by Eddie Jones – this book includes notes and handouts Eddie Jones has used in workshops at writers’ conferences. From the back of the book: “Do not expect lengthy explanations or examples… Think of this book as Cliff’s Notes(c) for a novelist.
2. Book Proposal Secrets by Kathy Bruins & Kim de Blecourt – I bought this one after attending Kathy & Kim’s workshop at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. Excellent resource!
3. The Emotion Thesaurus – this is actually one of a series (I also have the one on conflict and the one on occupations). I use this one regularly. It has helped me show, not tell. Valuable!!
4. Last but not least, Stephen King’s On Writing – this is his memoir plus a “master class” by King. I read this in less than 2 days and often refer back to it.

Any other books?

These are the Top 10 Books Writers Need, but do you have others you’d suggest? I’m always looking for a good craft book. Leave titles in the comments!

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About the Author

Hi, I’m Jen! I’ve been married 37 years, have 5 amazing kids and 2 adorable grandkids and one on the way. I homeschooled our three youngest children. I used to blog about homeschooling and taught Oral Communication as an adjunct instructor for over 5 years.

Jen Dodrill Writes is born of a passion of mine – to write a novel! When I’m not working, you’ll find me writing, spending time with my family, or curled up on the couch reading and drinking a mug of dark roast coffee. (Don’t forget to check out my mug shop – JDMugs!)