Writing is a profession that's beckoned me my whole life, but like a lot of people, it's one where I've never taken the plunge to seriously pursue it. I've written poetry, short stories, and parts of novels. Most of my writing now takes place on my book reviews site, ReviewsOfBooks.com, where I write book synopses and book reviews. Over the years, I've collected some writing reference books that I've found useful, and listed below are these books plus other books about writing that have been recommended by others. For those of you who are budding writers, perhaps you'll find these useful (click on the book cover or title to order from amazon.com).
Strunk and White's classic The Elements of Style is a book that should be on every writer's bookshelf. It's the writing book I consult most often. You can't go wrong following the principles and guidelines outlined here. If you take your writing seriously, you should have this book and consult it frequently.
The Elements of Grammar is another excellent reference book for those pesky grammar questions that you're pretty sure you know correctly, but somehow it just doesn't look right.
The Synonym Finder is the best reference I've found either in print or online for finding that elusive synonym which is just right for your sentence. I really like this a lot better than Roget's Thesaurus. It presents clearer options and it's much more comprehensive.
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon is another classic grammar reference book, and it's a lot of fun. It contains illustrations of gargoyles, mastodons, murderous debutantes, and vampires to show examples of the grammatical demons that potentially haunt every writer's prose.
The New Well-Tempered Sentence is also from Karen Elizabeth Gordon, and follows the same style of odd, illustrated characters to teach lessons about correct punctuation usage.
Le Mot Juste is a book for translation of foreign phrases, so if you encounter one you don't know or can't quite get the one you want off the tip of your tongue, this is an invaluable resource to have at your disposal.
I've found Self-Editing for Fiction Writers an indispensable book, especially for novel writing. Its chapters guide you through the different pitfalls that befall the fiction writer and keep a book from being worthy of publication. Highly recommended.
With On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Stephen King has written a book that tells the story of his life and how he became a writer, and he also gives advice and instruction on how to be a writer. I found it to be both educational and entertaining with an interesting perspective from one of America's most successful writers.
The Spooky Art is a book of Norman Mailer's reflections on the art of writing, a combination of previous interviews and essays as well as some original content from one of the most important voices in American literature.
Novelist, memoirist, and book reviewer Carolyn See has written Making a Literary Life, a book that is a combination of a how-to guide for writers and an inspirational book on how to be a writer and how to find the writing life that is the dream of so many aspiring authors.
Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird is a humorous and inspirational book for writers. She offers suggestions for handling writer's block, self-doubt, and professional jealousy, as well as teaching the discipline necessary to be a good writer.
For those of you actively looking to market your work, I've added the Writer's Market books below:
