Find textbooks in your genre or dip into these
general writing guides
GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION & EDITING
The Elements of Style, Strunk/White/Kalman, Penguin Group, New York, 2005
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Lynne Truss, Profile Books, London, 2003
How To Write a Sentence: and How to Read One, Stanley Fish, HarperCollins, New York, 2011
The Penguin Working Words: An Australian Guide to Modern English Usage, Editor Barrie Hughes, Penguin, Melbourne, 1995
CREATIVE WRITING
Reading like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them, Francine Prose, HarperCollins, New York, 2006
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott, Anchor Books, Doubleday, New York, 1994
How Fiction Works, James Wood, Vintage, Random House, London, 2009
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, Natalie Goldberg, Shambhala Publications, Boston, 1986
Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life, Natalie Goldberg, Bantam Books, New York, 1990
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master, Martha Alderson, Adams Media, Massachusetts, 2011
Finding Your Writer’s Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction, Thaisa Frank & Dorothy Wall, St Martin’s Press, New York, 1994
Self-editing for Fiction Writers: How To Edit Yourself Into Print, by Renni Browne & Dave King, HarperCollins, New York, 2004
Description & Setting: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Believable World of People, Places and Events, Ron Rozelle, Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, 2005
How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How
to Overcome Them, Sol Stein, St Martins Press, New York, 1999
Hooked: Write Fiction that Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, Les Edgerton, Writer’s Digest Books, Ohio, 2007
The First 50 Pages: Engage Agents, Editors, and Readers, and Set Up Your Novel For Success, Jeff Gerke, Writer’s Digest Books, Ohio, 2011
The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws,
Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, Jadd Publishing, 2013
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression,
Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, thebookshelfmuse.blogspot.com, 2012
YOUNG ADULTS AND MIDDLE GRADE
Writing Great Books for Young Adults: Everything You Need to Know From Crafting the Idea to Landing a Publishing Deal, Regina Brooks, Source Books, Chicago, 2009
Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies, Deborah Halverson,
Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis, 2011
Writing Irresistable Kidlit: The ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers, Mary Kole, Writers’ Digest Books, New York, 2012
PARANORMAL GENRE
Writing the Paranormal Novel: Techniques and Exercises Weaving Supernatural Elements Into Your Story, Steven Harper, Writers’ Digest Books, Cincinnati, 2011
The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Novels: Volume 1, Edited by Kim Richards, Dragon Moon Press, US, 2011
CRIME WRITING
Crime and Thriller Writing: A Writers’ & Artists’ Companion, Michelle Spring and
Laurie R King, Bloomsbury, London, 2013
How to Write a Damn Good Mystery: A Practical Step-by-step Guide from Inspiration to Finished Manuscript, James N. Frey, St Martin’s Press, New York, 2004
NON-FICTION / MEMOIR
The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2002.
To Show and To Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction, Phillip Lopate, Free Press,
Simon & Schuster, New York, 2013
Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir, Beth Kephart, Gotham Books, Penguin, New York, 2013
Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction, Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, Random House, New York, 2013
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction William Zinsser, HarperCollins, New York, 2006
Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction, Lee Gutkind and Hattie Fletcher Buck, W.W. Norton, New York, 2008
Writing Creative Nonfiction, editors Carolyn Forché and Philip Gerard, Writer's Digest Books, Cincinnati, 2001
