Top 10 Best Writing Books on Writing for Writers to Write Right

Maybe you’ve noticed the 10 books over on that wheel on the sidebar. I put that thing there a couple months ago, although I’m not sure if anyone really pays much attention to it.

Really, though, if you’re struggling with your writing, those books are a good place to start. Here’s a little bit more on each of them.

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Write, Publish, Repeat

This book by Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt has rocked right up the Amazon charts since it was released late last year. The book’s got 316 customer reviews, and probably more by now. Overall, quite the success!

So what does it tell you that will help you reach that same level of success with your book? I don’t know, I haven’t read it.

Everyone else seems to think it’s real good so I threw it up there on my sidebar. Maybe one day I’ll get around to it, but honestly, I don’t read much more than a chapter of fiction a night now, I write so much.

Ogilvy on Advertising

Wow, I loved this book! I paid $10.99 for it on Kindle, and it was worth it!

The book has more than 150 customer reviews with a 4.5 star average – pretty nifty!

I first heard of David Ogilvy from visiting Copyblogger, a good marketing site that I think has sadly gone down hill. Nonetheless, they still put up some good info from time to time, and one day their “resident recluse” put up a grainy ‘80s video of Ogilvy in the Indian advertising offices of such and such.

Well, the guy was quite entertaining, so I figured I’d plunk down the cash for his wisdom. And it’s good. You get lots of advertising photos in here that will educate and entertain you. You also get clear and straight talk that makes you say “oh yeah” to the simplest of things.

Overall a good book and one that’s worthy of being on my little sidebar thingy over there.

On Writing

This is a great little book by Stephen King that I read way back in June of 2009. 


In fact, I think it may well have been the last book I read in my crappy Chinese dorm room, the room I read about 75 books in that year. I left it there and I regret it – I doubt any Chinese people at the school have gotten any use out of it, but who knows? 

Anyway, this book has lots of good info from a master writer and it’s entertaining as well. I don’t really have much more to say about it that you haven’t already, or should have, heard before.

Techniques of the Selling Writer

Here’s another one I haven’t read but which a lot of people say is good. I guess I’ll have to get around to it here soon.

Dwight V. Swain wrote the book in 2012 and he’s got quite a bit of experience. He’s worked on newspapers and magazines and taught professional writing at the University of Oklahoma.

Topics include “Plain Facts about Feelings,” “The People in Your Story,” and “Preparing Your Manuscript.”

I’m sure it’s a great read just teeming with advice, but I can’t afford the $16.17 to buy it myself. Perhaps we can replace the lump of coal with it next year, however.

Save the Cat

Blake Snyder wrote this book in 2005, four years before his death. Snyder was a screenwriter and also gave a lot of workshops for writers. There are plenty of sites telling you pretty much what this book does, and that’s how to break a story down into ‘beats.’

Beats are story elements, and the book lays out how these are used in Hollywood screenplays to devastating effect. I’ve been using the standard storyboard template that Snyder lays out for my short novelettes, including Black Walnut, Wake Up, Detroit and Ale Quest.

I like how you can fit a typical three-act structure into this format and get a great story out on the other end. Well, it’s not quite as easy as that, but of all the books on that little sidebar spinner, I think this is one that’s helped me a lot lately.

Writing the Breakout Novel

This book was written by  Donald Maass, someone that’s gotten vilified a lot lately by self-published authors. One of the main reasons for this is that the guy’s giving writing advice without really having written a breakout novel himself.

Hey, I do this too, so I’ll give him a spot on the sidebar. In this book (which I have not read) Maass lays out key areas you can improve.

Now, a lot of these areas are interesting. A quick glance at the Table of Contents will tell you that we’ve got “God at Work in the World,” “Sidekicks and Narrators,” and “What Makes a Character Larger-Than-Life?”

There’s a lot more than that, and I can’t help you’ll pick up some great tips if you check this book out. Remember, I haven’t picked up any of these tips, so if you’re trying to get ahead of me, this might be the answer.

2k to 10k

Authors always raved about this book when I was still a member of Kboards. I’m not sure what they were raving about – as this is yet another book I’ve not read – but I can’t help but think it was because the book was helpful.

Authors on Kboards rave about two things in my experience: perceived slights to themselves and helpful things.

Check out this helpful book that really focuses on plotting and building your story from the ground-up. There are some people that write from the seat of their pants, and perhaps there’re some tips here that can help them as well.

Personally, I write around 5,000 words a day. The most I ever did was 17,000 words in one day. I rarely have a day when I don’t write. This book probably has some good advice, and I will admit I just bought it while writing this. Hey, it’s $0.99!

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

I need to read this book. The problem’s that it’s $8.89 right now, and that’s just a little bit more than I like to spend.

I really should read this book, however. See, I don’t pay editors – I do all my own editing. And I write fiction.

Golly, this is a no-brainer, huh!

I like some of the chapter titles in this book as well. It looks like they’re going to be discussing ways to make your dialogue flow better, breaking up scenes so they work better, and working on Point of View (POV) issues.

I’m sure they get into some of the nuts and bolts of copy-editing as well, but here it sounds like it’s really focusing on structural editing and whatnot. Overall, if it wasn’t so expensive I think I’d buy it.

How Not to Write a Novel

Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman wrote this book in 2009, and it will pretty much do what its title suggests – smack you upside the head and say “listen, dumbass – you’re doing it wrong!”

That can really help you. Right now the book has 100 reviews, most of them good. 

Some of the topics include “Getting to Know Your Hero,” “Narrative Stance,” and “Perspective and Voice.”

Lots of people write novels – any search on Amazon will tell you that – and a lot of them just aren’t up to par. I’m sure many of my books could fall into that category.

If you can spruce up your novel – shorten it, clean it up, kick it in the ass, and generally get it to working for you and not against you – then there’s a good chance people will buy it.

Will this book help you in that regard? I don’t know – I haven’t read it. But if I had $10.23 I might give it a harder look. Perhaps your pocketbook isn’t feeling as hard of a pinch as mine.

The Writer’s Journey

Christopher Vogel wrote this book and he wants to take you on a mythic journey through the world you’re about to create. 


Honestly, this book looks pretty good (I haven’t read it) and I think it might be one of the more interesting of the books listed here (the chapter titles are certainly shorter).

Topics include “Meeting with the Mentor,” “Trickster,” “Tests, Allies, Enemies,” and “Approach to the Inmost Cave.”

Jeez, I don’t know about you, but I’m intrigued! Unfortunately you can only buy this book in print, and it costs $15.22. Boo-hoo!

Well, a guy can dream, can’t he? And that, my friends, might be the best writing advice of all.

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