A Generous Baker’s Dozen: Writing Guides by Women (Mostly)

in no particular order

The Writing of Fiction by Edith Wharton

Great book by the first woman to win the Pulizter Prize. Not only that, she has a chapter on Marcel Proust.

 

Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Atwood

The compilation of a series of lectures, Margaret Atwood is seriously literate, which every writer should strive to be.

 

Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin. Enough said.

 

Writing from the Body: For Writers, Artists and Dreamers Who Long to Free Their Voice by Ceci Miller-Kritsberg and John Lee

An interesting approach, perhaps a bit reminiscent of Natalie Goldberg, but he runs a very popular writing workshop. Very focused.

 

The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer by Sandra Scofield

This is a nitty-gritty book that takes a very detailed approach to creating the ‘scenes’ that chapters and books are made of.

 

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

This is a book that focuses on struggle. The title comes from an experience faced by her brother as a child, the need to write a report on birds that he’d been procastinating about until the last minute. Their father told him, ‘Just take it bird by bird….’

 

One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer’s Art and Craft by Susan M. Tiberghien

If you like Carl Jung, you’ll love Susan Tiberghein. Her excercise are something like a quick(ish) psychoanalitic treatment series.

 

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

This is another deeply philosophical book inspired by Zen meditation. She has several books out, all of them excellent, in my opinion.

 

Silences by Tillie Olsen

A classic work for women on writing.

 

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Elizabeth Stuckey-French and Janet Burroway

The classic textbook used in many writing classes. Since it’s essentially a college text, it’s terribly expensive unless you find it in an out-of-the-way used bookshop, if things like that still exist in your neighbourhood.

 

20 Master Plots and How to Build Them by Ronald B. Tobias

For those who like ‘cookbooks’ rather more than pure creativity, Mr Tobias gives one a simple precis. Fill in the blanks, season to taste.

 

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative by Vivian Gornick

Great book, but focuses more on nonfiction and essays.

 

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Okay, speaking of personal narratives, this one’s definitely not by a woman, but it’s compelling in spite of that. I don’t particularly like his fiction books, as I’m not at all fond of the horror genre, but this, this book is different.

 

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas

This one is actually two books, the book proper and its workbook. The author is a literary agent, so perhaps knows a bit about what it takes to get one’s masterpiece published. Reading is all very well, but practice makes perfect.

 

Your favourite title(s) by your favourite author(s)

This/these is/are perhaps the most important book (or books) to reference. Write what you love, not what you think will sell. Emulate the authors whose books moved you, the books that made you want to write. Writing is an apprenticeship, when push comes to shove, and studying the work of a master, someone whose books you desperately want your work to resemble, is the most personal lesson you can learn. With every sentence, think about how (fill in the blank) might handle the scene, the dialog, the action. Seek out examples in his or her work, and see how they work.