Best Books for Writers

In this book from the Now Write! series, Sherry Ellis compiles over eighty writing prompts focused on nonfiction writing that will inspire readers and writers to embark on a new theme or direction, or help refine and craft elements of current works in progress. The collection includes ideas and exercises by acclaimed nonfiction authors including Reza Aslan, Jenny Boully, Paul Lisicky, Carole Maso, Dinty W. Moore, Rene Steinke, Gay Talese, and Xu Xi.

​“It’s a choice, writing is. One that belongs to you and me. We get to choose it (or not) every single day,” writes Jeff Goins in the first chapter of You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One). Goins helps readers overcome doubt and hesitation in order to gain the confidence and discipline needed to choose writing everyday and move forward with projects. Also included in the book are strategies for self-branding, publicizing, networking, and social media.

“Writing: a way of leaving no space for death, of pushing back forgetfulness, of never letting oneself be surprised by the abyss.” In this collection of six essays edited by Deborah Jenson, Hélène Cixous takes readers on a meandering journey through the complex and intricate relationships between writing, language, poetry, painting, music, gender and sexuality, and feminism. Writers of all levels will find inspiration in the playfulness and lyricism of Cixous’s prose as she explores the work of Clarice Lispector and examines the urgency of the artistic impulse to create.

From this book’s first chapter on story openings to its last chapter on closings, author, editor, and writing instructor Douglas Bauer covers the most essential elements of a complete work of fiction, guiding readers through the process of writing dialogue, characters, and dramatic events. In this revised and enlarged edition, Bauer emphasizes the attentive engagement and consistent work that all writers must commit to in order to strengthen their storytelling and craft skills.

This collection is “intended for the reader who loves poems and likes to think about them,” writes Tony Hoagland in the foreword. In each of the conversational essays exploring poets such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Matthea Harvey, Galway Kinnell, Yusef Komunyakaa, Harryette Mullen, and Sharon Olds, Hoagland ruminates and thinks through craft elements like diction, metaphor, tone, and composition with an enthusiasm and practical curiosity that will inspire readers and writers of all levels.

This collection of essays and reviews features critic and columnist David Orr’s​ incisive investigations of poetry’s role in contemporary culture​. Readers and writers alike will ​find inspiration and insight in Orr’s explorations, which cover a broad range of poets, books, celebrities, and poetry-related subjects​ including Oprah Winfrey, beach poems, translation, Louise Glück, Matthea Harvey, James Franco, Mary Jo Bang, and Robert Frost.

“All you need is a word,” write Jodi and Owen Egerton at the beginning of This Word Now, emphasizing the importance of getting the first word or idea down on the page. Chock-full of essays, anecdotes, lists, and exercises, the book is designed to help readers warm up and stay engaged through the various stages of the creative process, and to approach and access the imagination while both having fun and being challenged.

“I wrote this book because I want writers, including myself, to cheer up. I want us to swap out the all-too-common mindsets and practices that do not serve us for ones that feed our creativity, our productivity, and our souls.” Author and instructor Joni B. Cole guides readers through the steps of actively attending to the joyful aspects of creativity, while steering clear of unproductive attitudes, habits, and perceptions. With engaging honesty and humor, Cole shares anecdotes, examples, and exercises designed to jumpstart the discovery of happiness and inspiration throughout the entire writing process.

“Reflection can actually change, if not the outcome, then the attitude about particular heart-rending events. And it’s so often the case that brave writing begets brave living.” Author, instructor, and former rock and roll groupie Pamela Des Barres leads readers toward bravery in both writing and living in this book filled with creative prompts, lively exemplary anecdotes, and comparative references to music and literature. The book acts as a guide through the process of facing and reflecting on one’s own memories—whether heart-rending, dangerous, regretful, youthful, or transgressive—and how to write about these experiences with a new attitude of confidence and awareness.

​“I wanted to make the case for the value of imitation as a creative strategy,” writes David Lehman about this collection of poems in homage to over seventy poets who have left an impression, from Catullus and Li Po to Gwendolyn Brooks and Charles Bukowski, and various styles and forms that inspire, from jazz standards to astrology. A useful resource for creative writers, it may also influence readers to create their own set of “in the manner of” poems.

In The Emotional Craft of Fiction, veteran literary agent Donald Maass writes that “showing and telling are only part of the picture.” Instead, this book on craft illustrates how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Each chapter guides you through topics to help connect readers to your characters, which include emotional modes of writing, connecting characters’ inner and outer journeys, and using plot as a sequence of emotional milestones.

“Good essays essay interminably.... They keep thinking, keep sorting through their stimuli, keep uncovering and echoing meaning. An essay is thinking in action,” writes Ander Monson, founder of the website Essay Daily, who edited this collection with Craig Reinbold. The book combines many of the best essays from Essay Daily with original pieces, all of which serve as an inspirational showcase for the potential range and elasticity of the personal essay form.