This weekend I had the opportunity to attend Local Authors & You, a fantastic event put on by the county library. I was lucky enough to present a workshop, and - despite the fact that I was kind of a nervous wreck - it was a lot of fun. I promised the kind people who had the patience to sit through my presentation that I would post some of my favorite writing books on my blog. And so, without further ado, my writing tool box:


If you need to figure out why your are compelled to do this crazy thing called writing and need some gentle encouragement (or psychoanalysis), read:

Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg
Art & Fear, by David Bayles & Ted Orland

If you need some good old fashioned technical direction, read:

Self-editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne & Dave King
The Elements of Style, by William Strunk and E.B. White
If you are looking for ways to build a novel, read:

Scene & Structure, by Jack M. Bickham
Hooked, by Les Edgerton
If you want some good advice on craft, read:

Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
On Writing, by Stephen King
If you are looking for some writing prompts (or a good example of observational short essays), read:

Old Friend from Far Away, by Natalie Goldberg
642 Things to Write About, by the San Francisco Writers' Grotto
The Nice Thing About Strangers, by Paige M.J. Erickson