10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge: Day 4

Day 4 Prompt: Profile 3 to 5 top writing craft books

The following are three of my favorite writing craft books:

Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Is it a memoir or a craft book? Well, it’s a little of both. Part I covers King’s early writing years, starting with the short stories he wrote in grade school and working his way through high school and college, and then on to his time as a struggling English teacher with a substance abuse problem. In the rest of the book, King discusses his own theories on the craft. It’s an easy read full of “ah-ha moments.” A must-read for every writer, from beginner to master.
Renni Browne and Dave King’s Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. My master’s thesis adviser insists that every student in our professional writing program should have a copy of this book. I bought it when I was still a newcomer to the program but for some reason never cracked it open until I got to thesis semester (silly me.) I still haven’t read this book in its entirety, but I can say this is the writing craft book that finally helped me “get” interior monologue (and how to eliminate it, since interior monologue is about as useful to a work of fiction as adverbs are.)
Natalie Goldberg‘s Writing Down the Bones. I discovered this book early in my creative writing program as well. Unlike the self-editing book I mentioned above, I devoured this one, almost in one sitting. I found a lot of inspiration in this book. Now that I think about it, I need to read it again because I honestly can’t remember what exactly I liked about it so much, just that I liked it. Want to read it together and have a book discussion?

What are your top writing craft books?

NOTE: The 10 Day Writing Blogger Challenge is open until November 2013, so feel free to join in the fun. If you decide to answer this same prompt on your blog, I would love to read it. Please post a link to your blog post in the comments below.

~Amanda L. Webster