Best Books for Writers

“It is impossible for me to write about the imagination; it is like asking a fish to describe the sea,” claims poet Mary Ruefle on the first page of this chapbook-length essay. Through her unique blend of anecdotes and meditations upon subjects ranging from John Keats to Jesus to the Ukrainian art of Easter egg dyeing, Ruefle manages to demonstrate that the act of writing is much more than the solitary task it can sometimes feel like—it is a collaboration between yourself and the world. “The imagination is not what you play with, the imagination plays with you.”

In this collection of essays, Tom Sleigh investigates the ways private life, selfhood, and aesthetics are served by poetry written in the first person, and uses multiple forms to explore identity and the limits of subjectivity. Sleigh discusses his own writing, as well as work by poets including Elizabeth Bishop, Anne Bradstreet, Seamus Heaney, Sir Walter Raleigh, Tomas Tranströmer, and Derek Walcott to inspire new ways to think about poetic craft.

This compilation of essays is a revealing and thorough exploration of the variety of functions held by editors who hold indispensable roles in the process of preparing a manuscript for publication. In What Editors Do, over twenty-five editors from small presses to large publishing houses share advice, insights into the inner workings of the publishing industry, and perspectives on editing as both an art and a craft. All readers and writers passionate about literature and the creative process will find valuable inspiration in this informative resource.

“A life can change in a paragraph, in a turn of a phrase, in a single well-used word.” Light the Dark is a collection of essays exploring inspiration from over forty acclaimed authors, including Sherman Alexie, Junot Díaz, Angela Flournoy, William Gibson, Khaled Hosseini, Yiyun Li, Walter Mosley, Eileen Myles, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Marilynne Robinson. Each writer begins by sharing a favorite passage from literature that has transformed his or her writing life, and then delves into the various ways a powerful encounter with art can shape the creative process and be integrated into one’s own work.

A follow-up to Diane Lockward’s 2013 book, The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop, this second volume guides poets seeking to transform their practice through practical steps such as revising the creative process; selecting and refining diction, syntax, and sound; and completing final revisions. Each of the ten sections thoroughly explores and discusses craft tips provided by an experienced poet (Ellen Bass, Ada Limon, Dean Young, and others) and includes illuminating sample poems and related writing prompts.

The author of more than thirty books of nonfiction as well as more than a hundred pieces of journalism published in the New Yorker over the past fifty years offers a collection of essays on the writer’s craft in which he shares memories and tips of the trade gleaned throughout his distinguished career as a writer and an instructor at Princeton University. McPhee uses excerpts of his work to provide lessons on crucial decisions regarding structure, diction, and tone that shape well-written nonfiction pieces.

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.