Book cover of Steering The Craft: A Twenty-First-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story

Book description

From the celebrated Ursula K. Le Guin, "a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller" (Boston Globe), the revised and updated edition of her classic guide to the essentials of a writer's craft.

Completely revised and rewritten to address modern challenges and opportunities, this handbook is a short,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Steering The Craft as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Le Guin is a star in fiction’s firmament but in this book she’s also a wonderfully modest practitioner of the art of writing. She discusses the sound of your prose, naming characters, repetition, and point of view. I found her chapter on crowding and leaping especially helpful. Crowding is when you follow Keats’ advice to load every rift with ore; leaping is when you skillfully leave things out—two invaluable skills in fiction, and in life.  

From Margot's list on reading and writing fiction.

If you love Steering The Craft...

Book cover of Spellbinding Sentences: A Writer's Guide to Achieving Excellence and Captivating Readers

Spellbinding Sentences by Barbara Baig,

Spellbinding Sentences is for writers who want mastery of their craft, writers who want to know the secrets of powerful prose that will give readers pleasure and keep them turning pages. These techniques are available to anyone who’s willing to practice them consistently.

Sentences shows exactly what to practice and…

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