Some Awesome Writing Books

I recently tore through one of those books that I probably should have read years ago. It’s The War of Art, and was written by man named Stephen Pressfield. You may not know his name, but you probably know his work… he is the author of (among many other books) The Legend of Bagger Vance, on which the popular movie was based.

The book is about Resistance (always capitalized, as if it were a pronoun). Resistance is one of those odd forces of nature that we never talk about but always experience. It pulls you down with the weight of an anvil and inhibits writing, art, and all manner of goals and dreams. The first part of The War of Art puts you face-to-face with Resistance and helps you understand this mystery. The second half of the book gives you some guidance on how to face it down and (ideally) overcome it.

This book is not for everyone. It takes a deep dive into some Jungian philosophy (a far cry from the pop-psych insights one typically sees today). There is no bullet-pointed “action plan” or “Seven Splendiforous Ways to Overcome Your Creative Blocks”. The War of Art is philosophy, psychology, and memoir (and it’s heartening that such a well-regarded author has faced the very same demons and struggles that I have), a hearty buffet of food for thought.

It’s not a long book. It is certainly worth a read for any writer, artist, or entrepreneur.

Now onto the kinda/ sorta similarly titled (but very different) book, The Art of War for Writers. James Scott Bell is one of my very favorite writers that writes about writing. He takes the concepts that Chinese general Sun Tzu put forth in his perennial masterpiece, The Art of War, and applies them to the writing game.

This book is divided into three parts… Reconnaissance, Tactics, and Strategy. The Reconnaissance section concerns itself with an overarching view of one’s writing career and mentality. Tactics covers the particulars of writing good fiction, while Strategy tackles the business aspects of one’s writing career. The individual chapters are short and to the point.

The Art of War for Writers is well worth a read and ideal for keeping within reach of your writing space.

The Nighttime Novelist is an excellent, comprehensive book on the fiction writer’s craft. It is detailed, covering most of what you need to know to start and complete that novel you have been thinking about writing for years. There are sections on structure, characters, beginning, ending, and much more. The Nighttime Novelist is eminently readable, yet is organized enough that it can be used as a handy reference.

Speaking of “a handy reference”, The Creative Writer’s Style Guide has consistently served me well. It has been my go-to guide for years when it comes to those nitpicky questions with regards to comma placement within dialog or conditional verbs and what-not.

Born to Run is the autobiography of rock icon Bruce Springsteen. Reportedly, he wrote it entirely himself, completely without the help of a ghostwriter. It turns out that he is a damn good prose writer… there are some very vivid passages that are nearly as poetic as his lyrics. I am a long-time fan, but there is much to Bruce’s story that I didn’t know.

Why include Born to Run in a blog post about books for writers? The book is about, more than anything, the evolution of an artist and how his early life informed and resounded in his music and lyrics.

These are just a few of the many worthy writing books to be had. Here are some more just to round out the list.

• Writer With a Day Job
• The Productive Writer
• Time to Write
• Write Is a Verb
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creative Writing
• The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to actually go write some words now. Please don’t hesitate to chime in should you have a favorite book of your own to feature. I may write another, similar blog post (and I might even cover another medium, such as podcasts about writing). Keep your eyes peeled.