Each year in November, writers set forth the task of completing a novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It’s a challenge most writers strive to undertake at least once in their lifetime, even if they never intend to publish it. To celebrate, we’re recommending titles for instruction on these writing endeavors.
Here is the first novel-writing guide from the Save the Cat! series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points that presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists and lays out the Ten Story Genres alongside quirky, original insights.
For a quarter century, more than a million readers have been inspired by Anne Lamott’s hilarious, homespun advice in the modern classic Bird by Bird. This twenty-fifth anniversary edition will continue to spark creative minds for years to come.
In Mastering the Process, George offers readers a master class in the art and science of crafting a novel. This is a subject she knows well, having taught creative writing both nationally and internationally for over thirty years.
13 Ways of Looking at the Novel
Thirteen Ways is essential reading for anyone who has ever escaped into the pages of a novel or, for that matter, wanted to write one. Smiley explores the unparalleled intimacy of reading, why a novel succeeds (or doesn’t), and how the novel has changed over time.
The second book in the Writer’s Compass series from professional writing instructor Elizabeth Lyon offers both aspiring and established authors the fundamentals of writing and selling a great novel or short story.
Distilled from John Gardner’s courses and seminars,The Art of Fiction is a no-nonsense and cogent guide to the principles and techniques of good writing. This is a work for the serious beginning writer and makes no apologies for the demands of craft.
In Blueprint Your Bestseller, Stuart Horwitz offers a step-by-step process for revising your manuscript that has helped bestselling authors get from first draft to final draft. Horwitz helps writers look at their writing with the fresh perspective needed to reach the finish line.
