The most recommended creative writing books

No one can deny that Patricia Highsmith knew how to create suspense. Alfred Hitchcock saw that Strangers on a Train was the ideal spine-tingler for a great movie. Other directors have found the Ripley series perfect nail-biting stories to work with. Highsmith takes us through the process of building suspense from the germ of an idea through the plotting, the drafts, and the revisions, using examples from her own work, short stories, and novels. I’m not surprised this book has stayed in print for over fifty years. I still dip into it and get inspired.

This title is unique among books on writing in that Prose devotes a full chapter to eight critical elements of writing: words, sentences, paragraphs, narration, character, dialog, details, and gesture. For example, she explores concepts such as first sentences and their impact on the narrative. Prose suggests that “close reading” is the key to understanding and learning about literature, for the reader and writer. She takes her readers on a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters―Dostoyevsky, Flaubert, Kafka, Austen, Dickens, Woolf, Chekhov―and discusses why these writers have endured. Throughout, she cautions readers to slow down and pay attention to words, the raw material out of which literature is crafted. One of the most important books on writing I have ever read.

I had never been to Greenland when I first read Gretal Erlich’s book, and I knew very little about this mysterious continent. What I loved most about Erlich’s writing is that she really takes readers on a journey, introducing us to the people she meets in her travels, which are as fascinating as her singular way of describing the landscape, which is like no other place on earth.

Many years later, I travelled to Greenland and appreciated the accuracy of her descriptions firsthand. 

Many of us are a bit afraid of stepping out and trying something new. That applies especially with creative work. “I’m just not that good,” we tell ourselves—or voices from our past tell us. Brenda Ueland was a long-time Chicago creative writing instructor, and her little book is strong encouragement (and a bit of a kick in the pants) about risk-taking and learning about our super-powers in the process.

This is an excellent textbook to get readers and comic makers of all experience levels to loosen up, think deeply and personally, and make better, more confident comics. It’s warm but practical, smart but approachable, deep but unpretentious. This is a comics veteran generously sharing both her knowledge of comics and teaching, as well as her own methods for drawing, brainstorming, and writing. It’s an incredible resource and one I often find myself quoting and recommending to my own students. 

The best book I read this year was non-fiction.

As a writer I’m always looking for the silver bullet - the craft book that will give me the secret to leveling up my fiction. But once you’ve read dozens of them, they all start to sound the same. Examples: Writing the Breakout Novel did not fulfill its titular promise. Steering the Craft steered itself to my DNF shelf.

Then. This year I discovered Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. It’s easy to read and accessible to beginning writers. The author is funny and frank. The book is even more helpful than the original by Blake Snyder (for screenwriters) and provides specific, brilliant steps in creating a tight, compelling plot (which has everything to do with the changes inside the MC.)

I highly recommend the audio. I’m in the middle of Story Genius by Lisa Cronin which corroborates… show more.

Jamilah Thomkins-Bigelow has threaded a beautiful story around Abdul and his love of telling stories but finds it challenging to transition them into written form.

Abdul describes not seeing himself or his community in the books read in the curriculum at school, which amplifies the doubt in his voice and stories being worth of being in a book. One day a class has a visitor, a writer, who Abdul is able to see himself in. While Abdul continues to struggle with self-doubt in his writing abilities, the visitor allows him to break free from the limitations planted and amplified within himself.

In collaboration with Tiffany Rose's illustrations, Jamilah weaves a beautiful reminder for all Black children who have ever had a doubt— that their stories have and will always matter. 

One of the conundrums that writers in the memoir genre encounter is the balancing act related to sharing family stories while addressing concerns and nuances about privacy.

Kerry Cohen’s The Truth of Memoir provides pointed advice about truthful storytellers, while also being considerate of multiple, familial viewpoints. Cohen reminds authors of the importance of thoughtfully assessing the motivation to write, cautioning those who may feel compelled to write in order to seek revenge, particularly when writing about family members.

As with Madeleine L’Engle, everything I’ve read by Ursula K. Le Guin—fiction as well as nonfiction—has radically influenced my writing and my teaching of writing. In fact, her impact on my creative awakening was so profound that I sent her a copy of my first book as a thank you! Steering the Craft is filled with wisdom and exercises for both new and seasoned writers, but perhaps the most liberating for blocked writers is her controversial view that “story” is defined by “change” not “conflict.” That’s especially welcoming for writers who feel hemmed in (and, perhaps, blocked) by the traditional definition.

I’m a mathematician. Mathematicians start with basic ideas—axioms and definitions—and use logic to deduce magical things called theorems. When I decided I wanted to write fiction, I looked for books on writing. I found lots of good books, but they left my mathematical brain unsatisfied. Then I found Gardner’s book. Gardner’s genius is that he provides a theory of fiction, a framework for understanding what makes writing come alive. Reading Gardner, I saw at once the difference between, say, Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King. They’re both geniuses, to be sure, but King’s writing draws you into his fictional worlds in ways Poe’s never does. The underlying theory, the fictional dream, makes all the difference. The fictional dream is the secret to compelling writing.