Writing needs its own Mount Rushmore–a single place where you can get the very best advice on storytelling, mechanics, and more. Toward that end, consider these fine guides:
Marie Arena, editor, The Writing Life: Writers on How They Think and Work (New York: Public Affairs, 2003). Five- to ten-page essays on all aspects of writing—routines, research, creativity, and style. Authors in this anthology include Francine DuPlessix Gray, Joyce Carol Oates, Scott Turow, John Edgar Wideman, Ray Bradbury, Edmund Morris, Umberto Eco, Cynthia Ozick, Carl Sagan and Kay Redfield Jamison.
Will Blythe, editor, Why I Write: Thoughts on the Craft of Fiction (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1998): Selections from a New York Times essay series by some of the most important authors in the world.
Robert Boynton, editor, The New New Journalism: Conversations with America’s Best Nonfiction Writers On Their Craft (New York: Vintage, 2005: Interviews on every aspect on nonfiction writing — research, interviewing, writing, rewriting, and style — from the best practitioners working today.
Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer (New York: Little, Brown, 2006): A terrific store of tips on the mechanics of writing, tricks to give writing greater meaning and life, strategies of storytelling, and the habits of good writers.
Malcolm Cowley, editor, Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews (New York: The Viking Press, 1958). Tricks and wisdom from the great men and women of American letters, including William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren, Truman Capote, and Thornton Wilder.
Stephen Denning, The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005): Inspired by Robert McKee, a guide to business writing that helps lift writing beyond dreary memos and PowerPoint.
Lajos Egri, The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in Creative Interpretation of Human Motives (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1942): A classic of playwriting, with a focus on characters and conflict.
Angus Fletcher, Storythinking: The New Science of Narrative Intelligence (Columbia University Press, 2023): A neuroscientist, college professor, and Hollywood story guru explains why the brain insists on breaking the rules, creating conflict, and shifting scenes. See my interview here.
Angus Fletcher, Wonderworks: Literary Invention and the Science of Stories (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2021): A survey of 25 key moments when storytellers broke the rules and invented new ways of telling and understanding stories. Don’t bother bringing a highlighter. Everything in this book is golden. See my interview here.
Jon Franklin, Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction By a Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner (New York: Plume, 1994). Mechanics and art from an award-winning newspaper reporter.
Elizabeth George, Write Away: One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life (London: Hodder, 2004). A practical guide, from research to writing and rewriting, from a British master of suspense.
Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual (Boston: Bedford, 2004): A quick reference book for all aspects grammar and style.
Constance Hale, Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose (New York: Broadway Books, 1999): A lively book that shows how to make writing zippier and more telling at the same time.
Ted Kooser and Steve Cox, Writing Brave and Free: Encouraging Words For People Who Want To Start Writing (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006). The former U.S. Poet Laureate and his editor provide a concise guide to every aspect of writing, from composing sentences to publishing books and articles.
Mark Kramer and Wendy Call, editors, Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University (New York: Doubleday, 1994) : A collection of talks and commentary from the Nieman Foundation’s annual conferences.
Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing And Life (New York: Doubleday, 1994) : An intimate story showing how you, too, can use the best of your right and left brains.
Norman Mailer, The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing (New York: Random House, 2003). Everything that the late know-it-all knew about writing.
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics (Washington: DC Comics, 1999): A comic book explaining how storytelling can merge words and images to tell a more compelling story. Amazing insights about how the mind works, how stories unfold, and how meaning shifts with different formats and perspectives.
Robert McKee, Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting (New York: ReganBooks, 1997): A classic work by Hollywood’s most famous “script doctor.” McKee understands the eternal principles of storytelling. Written for film scriptwriters, the book has inspired countless of novelists, nonfiction writers, business people, and more.
Louis T. Milic, editor, Stylists on Style: A Handbook With Selections and Analysis (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1969) : Great passages from great writers, with very useful commentary.
Larry W. Phillips, Ernest Hemingway on Writing (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984). Passages about writing from the late novelist’s books, interviews, and letters.
Steve Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (New York: Warner Books, 2002): A Zen guide to dealing with the emotional trials of writing.
Dan Roam, The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (New York: Portfolio, 2008): Using simple graphics to tell a story that communicates complex ideas.
Norman Sims and Mark Kramer, editors, Literary Journalism: A New Collection of the Best American Nonfiction (New York: Ballantine Books, 1995): An anthology of great narrative nonfiction, with strong commentary.
Sol Stein, Stein on Writing (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995): The basic of storytelling.
William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, with illustrations by Maira Kalman, The Elements of Style (New York: The Penguin Press, 2005) : The classic guide, updated with whimsical art.
Francis-Noel Thomas and Mark Turner, Clear and Simple as the Truth: Writing Classic Prose (Princeton, 1994): A detailed explanation of classic prose—briefly, writing that engages the writer and reader in a one-on-one conversation—with a “museum” of classic examples of the classic style.
John Truby, The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works (New York: Picador, 2023): A work of genius. A comprehensive guide to the 14 genres for storytelling, with detailed breakdowns of the “beats” in each. See my interview with Truby here.
John Truby, The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller (Ferrar Staus and Giroux, 2008): A landmark analysis of the essential elements of top-level stories. Essential for any storyteller’s library. See my interview with Truby here.
Joseph M. Williams, with Gregory G. Colomb, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990): The comprehensive guide to “practical” writing.
William Zinsser, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (Collins, 2006). The North Star for generations of writers. If nothing else, read the chapter on clutter. If you have not read it yet, your writing will improve dramatically, right away.
Before you go . . .
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