Writer’s Toolbox: Writing and Editing Books

You’d never take some pieces of wood and a hammer and try to build a bookcase without some instructions or at least looking at a couple YouTube videos, would you? Writing can be thought of in a similar vein. In addition to practicing writing every day, you need some tools in your author toolbox — your own reference library, if you will. Few (and even that might be an exaggeration) people can simply start typing and end up with a book-length manuscript without having read any reference books about writing, structuring a book, or self-editing. A quick search on Amazon for “writing books” yields more than one million results, so how do you know where to begin to find what you need and/or are looking for? There are books for every type of writing, every genre in a bookstore, every issue that gets in a writer’s way, and more. I’m listing here a few of my favorites here that are more general about writing rather than focused on one specific issue/theme. (That post will come later!) And because I know not everyone reads full-length books as regularly as they might want to, I’m including online resources and podcasts, too.
 

Books

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King
 
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Anne Lamott
 
The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers
Betsy Lerner

Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English
Patricia T. O’Conner

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
Natalie Goldberg
 
On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
William Zinsser
 
The Elements of Style
E.B. White and William Strunk, Jr.
 
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Creative Battles
Steven Pressfield
 
 

Online Resources
Grammarly
Merriam-Webster (dictionaries/thesaurus)
 
 
Podcasts
Grammar Girl
Writing Excuses
I Should Be Writing
The Creative Penn
 
What are your favorite writing resources? I’d love to hear them!
 
For more hands-on help, schedule a Discovery Call with me today to see how I can help you with your project. In the meantime, do you have a favorite resource to share? I would love to hear from you!