Here are 23 books that Writers Helping Writers Series fans have personally recommended once you finish the Writers Helping Writers Series series.
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I’m an oral historian as well as a writer, so I’ve always been fascinated by how people speak and how they interact with each other through dialogue. I soon realized some of the ways spoken language differs from written language and began exploring those differences. When I started writing, the dialogue came fairly easily, but this was deceptive, as I wasn’t being rigorous enough–I wasn’t making the dialogue really work for the script. So, I’m always trying to get better at that. I’ve had over 60 scripts performed on stage, radio, and screen, but I still gobble up books about speech and dialogue–there is always more to be learned.
I loved the voice of this book–it’s the voice of Stephen King, clever, yes, and a brilliant novelist, of course, but also absolutely down-to-earth. King is a perfectionist, continually going back through his writing to hone it–a useful reminder to all of us not to be satisfied with a first or second draft.
The book shows how, in the best writing, both dialogue and plot arise out of character. And I particularly valued his emphasis on cutting, cutting, cutting–dialogue and everything else. He’s made me do that more than ever!
Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen King
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME
Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the…
When your storytelling simulates imagined physiological experiences, it guides your listeners to vicariously see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the world of your story. While my books suggest six kinds of stories and four buckets to find stories, I also use these favorite resources for training my brain to think in sensory language. Dip in to find a steady supply of metaphors, images, mannerisms, and context builders that make your story come alive. Current strategies that maximize clicks rarely tap into the wealth of sensory language needed to build epic, long-lasting results.
If you are working on a story that feels boring, dive into this book of quotations (or any book of quotations, really) to prompt ideas on delivery. The process of jumping in and out of a wide variety of points of view invigorates my creativity.
I look up themes from my story and see what I can find that will make it more memorable: a turn of phrase, an example of brevity, or one more ingenious way to challenge conventional wisdom. It’s like a thesaurus but better.
Here are 16,000 quotes from 2,600 women—most of them found in no other collection. With dynamic and witty words by sources ranging from Bella Abzug to Ann Zwinger on over 1,400 topics, this is an indispensable reference and browser's delight.
"An important counterpoint to general collections of quotations, which, unfortunately, still don't offer equitable coverage of women's words." -Carolyn Mulac, Library Journal
When your storytelling simulates imagined physiological experiences, it guides your listeners to vicariously see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the world of your story. While my books suggest six kinds of stories and four buckets to find stories, I also use these favorite resources for training my brain to think in sensory language. Dip in to find a steady supply of metaphors, images, mannerisms, and context builders that make your story come alive. Current strategies that maximize clicks rarely tap into the wealth of sensory language needed to build epic, long-lasting results.
Reading about posture, tone, and timing does not train your body to know when and where to shift. What I do is stimulate my creative muscles by reading aloud any of the two hundred speeches as I imagine standing in the shoes of the orator who delivered it. It’s like an adventure in time travel.
The first time is usually a mechanical recitation but once you figure out the context, and what is meaningful to you, personally, you will experience a powerful difference in delivery. Experiment with posture changes, tone varies, pauses, and pacing to make the words more memorable. Expand your repertoire of posture, tone, and timing options by standing in the shoes of the greats.
From a Pulitzer Prize–winning author, this collection of speeches is “the most valuable kind of book, the kind that benefits mind and heart” (Peggy Noonan). This third edition of the bestselling collection of classic and modern oratory offers numerous examples of the greatest speeches ever delivered—from the ancient world to the modern. Speeches in Lend Me Your Ears span a broad stretch of history, from Gen. George Patton inspiring Allied troops on the eve of D-Day to Pericles’s impassioned eulogy for fallen Greek soldiers during the Peloponnesian War; and from Jesus of Nazareth’s greatest sermons to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s fiery…
When your storytelling simulates imagined physiological experiences, it guides your listeners to vicariously see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the world of your story. While my books suggest six kinds of stories and four buckets to find stories, I also use these favorite resources for training my brain to think in sensory language. Dip in to find a steady supply of metaphors, images, mannerisms, and context builders that make your story come alive. Current strategies that maximize clicks rarely tap into the wealth of sensory language needed to build epic, long-lasting results.
Before Lakoff wrote about politics, he compiled this treasure trove of the metaphors humans recruit to grapple with moral concerns. For instance, early in the book I learned how to take a listener “in front” of a problem, “behind it” “inside it” as well as “outside it” so they might vicariously experience four points of view instead of one.
Engaging the body embeds regular intelligence with sensory wisdom.
What are human beings like? How is knowledge possible? What is truth? Where do moral values come from? Questions like these have stood at the centre of Western philosophy for centuries. In addressing them, philosophers have made certain fundamental assumptions,that we can know our own minds by introspection, that most of our thinking about the world is literal, and that reason is disembodied and universal,that are now called into question by well-established results of cognitive science. It has been shown empirically that:Most thought is unconscious. We have no direct conscious access to the mechanisms of thought and language. Our ideas…
I am passionate about this book list because it helped me get where I am today, a multiple-times bestselling author and an award-winning senior reporter. I began working as an overnight police round reporter before moving into sports, where I became one of Australia's best news-breaking rugby league journalists. I was then appointed News Corp Australia's Chief National Motorsports Writer and traveled the world chasing Formula 1 story, as well as covering Australia's V8 Supercar races. Everyone has to start somewhere, and for me, this list of books helped me begin and continue to grow to reach the level of success that I have.
So, if builders go to Bunnings to find their tools and I go to Rogets for mine, well then, Merriam-Webster is just another brand of hardware store for writers. But let’s call this one Mitre Ten.
This is a staple of a home office when writing. Have it sitting there in plain sight all day long while you write.
The perfect book for expanding your working vocabulary and an indispensable tool for students preparing for standardized tests.
250 Greek and Latin roots aid in the learning of 1,000 words along with over 2,000 closely related terms
Features helpful usage examples and quizzes to test your memory
Organized by Greek and Latin roots– the building blocks of English vocabulary
Perfect for students prepping for standardized tests including SAT, ACT, TOEFL, and TOEIC
*BOOK COVER DESIGNS MAY VARY: We recently redesigned the Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder book cover so some customers may receive the original design and others may receive the new…
I am passionate about this book list because it helped me get where I am today, a multiple-times bestselling author and an award-winning senior reporter. I began working as an overnight police round reporter before moving into sports, where I became one of Australia's best news-breaking rugby league journalists. I was then appointed News Corp Australia's Chief National Motorsports Writer and traveled the world chasing Formula 1 story, as well as covering Australia's V8 Supercar races. Everyone has to start somewhere, and for me, this list of books helped me begin and continue to grow to reach the level of success that I have.
A builder has a tool belt. In that belt, he has a hammer, a drill, a level, a tape measure, and so on. He needs those tools to build whatever he is going to build.
A writer has a tool belt tool. In that belt, the writer has words. The writer uses those words to build, too–not houses but stories. And unless you are planning on building a shabby shack, you need to fill that tool belt of yours with as many words as you can find.
I’ve been writing for 23 years, but I still try to add at least five new words to my tool belt every day. Builders go to Bunnings to find their tools. I go to Rogets.
The ultimate tool for writers! Whether you're crafting the next great American novel or pounding away at a last-minute blog entry, there will come a time in the process when you struggle to find just the perfect word or phrase. Under the time-tested banner of Roget's Thesaurus, this collection will quickly become the most essential tool on your desk when you're working on your next piece. Far from an ordinary word list, each entry in this book is organized by meaning and offers a list of compelling word choices that relate to the ideas you'd like to use. It also…
After writing more than sixty romance novels, I can sometimes find myself at a loss for words, unable to think of the right word or find myself using the same ones. Having a good thesaurus is invaluable. I use my own thesaurus, Naughty Words for Nice Writers, all the time. I wrote it as a survival guide—it was the book I needed that didn’t exist when I started writing romance. Besides Naughty Words, the thesauri/reference books I’m recommending are tools I couldn’t live without.
If you want a general thesaurus, I believe The Synonym Finder with more than 1 million synonyms is the best one on the market.
I’ve used it for more than 30 years and had to replace my original copy because it was so well-used, it fell apart. What makes this thesaurus stand out is the quality of synonyms and the ease of use. It is super easy to find the words you’re looking for. Every author should have this book!
With a simple alphabetical arrangement this book has been expanded to include thousands of new words and expressions that have entered the language in recent years, and includes clearly labelled slang and informal words and expressions.
After writing more than sixty romance novels, I can sometimes find myself at a loss for words, unable to think of the right word or find myself using the same ones. Having a good thesaurus is invaluable. I use my own thesaurus, Naughty Words for Nice Writers, all the time. I wrote it as a survival guide—it was the book I needed that didn’t exist when I started writing romance. Besides Naughty Words, the thesauri/reference books I’m recommending are tools I couldn’t live without.
Think of Master Lists for Writers as a collection of mini thesauri on topics of interest to writers including plot twists, settings, body language, character names, action scene words, funny plots, workplace plots, character quirks, and much more.
Many of the subjects could merit a book in and of themselves, so rather than an exhaustive list of words, Master Lists provides a high-level summary of the most common terms in each category. Often, that’s enough. I sometimes use this book for inspiration.
Write faster...write more! Master Lists for Writers makes “show, don’t tell” a lot easier and helps you figure out your story more quickly. In this book, you’ll find: • lists of phrases for describing facial expressions, body language, gestures, physical appearance, and emotions • 175 master plot ideas, including romance, high-stakes, family, and workplace stories • lists of words for writing action scenes and love scenes • inspiration for figuring out character traits and quirks, backstories, occupations, motivations, and goals • lists for describing settings and writing dialogue • lists of good character names for contemporary stories...plus medieval England, Regency…
After writing more than sixty romance novels, I can sometimes find myself at a loss for words, unable to think of the right word or find myself using the same ones. Having a good thesaurus is invaluable. I use my own thesaurus, Naughty Words for Nice Writers, all the time. I wrote it as a survival guide—it was the book I needed that didn’t exist when I started writing romance. Besides Naughty Words, the thesauri/reference books I’m recommending are tools I couldn’t live without.
A trope is a common plot device used in fiction, such as the billionaire hero, fated mates, secret baby, fake relationship. Even before I knew what a trope was, I was using them.
The Trope Thesaurus is more than a listing of common tropes, it also explains how to creatively and effectively use them to create conflict and to plot your fiction. The author gives examples in romance, mystery, suspense, thriller, science fiction, and fantasy. If you’re ever stuck for a plot idea, check out this book.
After writing more than sixty romance novels, I can sometimes find myself at a loss for words, unable to think of the right word or find myself using the same ones. Having a good thesaurus is invaluable. I use my own thesaurus, Naughty Words for Nice Writers, all the time. I wrote it as a survival guide—it was the book I needed that didn’t exist when I started writing romance. Besides Naughty Words, the thesauri/reference books I’m recommending are tools I couldn’t live without.
I was so thrilled when I found this little gem. I had been desperately searching for a book like this!
Authors use body language to show emotion and to use as dialogue tags. But in typical nonfiction books on body language you have to weed through a lot of psychological explanation to find the gesture. Author Tim Ellis did the work for us. This book lists just the gestures and expressions for emotions from A to Z.
My copy is paperback; unfortunately, the author has since passed away, and only the Kindle version is available now.
This book is for writer's to cherry-pick body language for their characters. It does what it says on the cover - it's an A-Z list of emotions, attitudes and feelings with the associated body language.
