I don’t know about you, but I love a good craft book. To be honest, give me ALL the craft books! If you all could see my shelves now, you’d probably gather that I am a craft book NERD—and proud of it. I love reading about different perspectives and approaches to the craft of writing. I am a forever believer that there is always something to learn. Even in my least favorite writing craft books, I always find some gem of wisdom. Since I get asked for recommendations all the time, I figured I’d start a list of my favorites. I’m also going to keep adding to this list as I read new ones, so feel free to bookmark this page as one you can come back to periodically for new recommendations.
I’ve linked to the Writer’s Atelier Bookshop account for most of these titles, which means that Writer’s Atelier receives a small commission for books purchased from our shop link. The general link for our curated list can be found here.
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Books on Editing and Revising
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King
This is my all-time favorite craft book. I was introduced to it while studying creative writing in my undergrad years at USF. It was a required textbook. It really helped me understand the basics of self-editing and also helped me learn to edit in general. It’s my go-to and the one that I recommend to writers to this day.
The Complete Revision Workbook for Writers by Arielle Haughee
Okay, so I’m slightly biased on this one. This was a workbook that we published under WA Books, which is the publishing division of Writer’s Atelier. While this book offers insight and advice on revising your work, it’s really about working through your revision issues. Since it is a workbook, there are pages designed for you to fill in and think about what’s working and what’s not in your work.
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Books on Romance Writing
Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes
This is a straightforward, short, and sweet book about writing romance. I like this book because Hayes simplifies romance writing so writers can easily understand it. She breaks everything down into the necessary “beats” of a romance novel and it helped me tremendously when I first started writing romance.
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General Craft of Writing Books
Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses
This one is a new favorite and admittedly, I’m still reading it! However, it’s excellent! Salesses offers a different approach to craft and what we’ve been taught in a “traditional” sense.
The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maas
This book is another classic! It specifically focuses on how to make readers feel when they’re reading your work. Maas helps you learn how to create emotion in not just you characters, but your story as a whole.
The entire Emotion Thesaurus series by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi (but especially The Negative Trait Thesaurus)
The whole series is AMAZING! I initially heard about the original Emotion Thesaurus from my good friend, Tawney Bland, and then another writer gifted a copy to the studio. (That’s right, if you come by Writer’s Atelier, you can use it while you’re there!) At the time, I was only writing darker/heavy YA, so I purchased The Negative Trait Thesaurus. That particular one has helped me with layering in character flaws. The books in the series are: The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression (Second Edition), The Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Psychological Trauma, The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes, The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Flaws, The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Personal and Natural Places, The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces, and The Occupation Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Jobs, Vocations, and Careers.
What If (College Edition) by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
So this was another textbook that I kept from college. (Yes, I was an English/creative writing major and kept ALL my textbooks!) It’s a solid book for inspiration and practice. It’s FULL of writing exercises with brief instruction. I pull it off the shelf when I’m stuck sometimes, and I also use it when I teach certain writing workshops. A lot of folks aren’t too keen on the textbook price, but there’s also an abbreviated version that focuses on the exercises.
Writer’s Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein, Ph.D.
This one was an earlier craft book for me. My collection has become ridiculous, but this was one I picked up in the earlier part of my writing career. This one is similar to the Emotion Thesaurus series as far as traits go, but also has statistics and how personalities correspond with thoughts and actions. We don’t have this one in our Bookshop, but you can find it here.
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Books on Writing YA Literature
Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks
This was the first craft book I bought about YA! Regina Brooks is a well respected agent and her advice is insightful if you’re just starting out in the YA .
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Books on Writing Life or Creativity
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
If you know me IRL, then you know I am OBSESSED with this book. It’s not a craft book, but it is a book that makes you think about what you want to get out of your writing life (or creative life). This book changed my writing life. I have sections underlined and tabbed with post-its. I come back to it again and again. It also helped me through a particularly confusing and dark time in my writing career—a time when I questioned if writing was for me. I cannot recommend it enough.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield
This one was also a game-changer for writing life. Pressfield discusses how much resistance plays a part in our creative pursuits. It blew my mind that we can be fearful of both failure and success. It’s a book that explores the deep psychology behind resistance. This one helped me learn how to recognize when I resist and also gave me the tools to deal with resistance long-term.
I could go on, seriously. I haven’t even scratched the surface here if I look at my craft books section of my shelves. (I don’t talk numbers! Ha!) However, I plan to continue to add to this list and update as I come across new titles that I love. Stay tuned!
Racquel Henry is a Trinidadian writer, editor, and writing coach with an MFA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is a part-time English Professor and owns Writer’s Atelier. Racquel is also the co-founder and Editor at Black Fox Literary Magazine and the Editor-in-Chief at Voyage YA. She is the author of Holiday on Park, Letter to Santa, and The Writer’s Atelier Little Book of Writing Affirmations. Her fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in various literary magazines and anthologies. When she’s not working, you can find her watching Hallmark Christmas movies.
