Recommended Reading For Writers

In October, I ran an Author-fest. It was so fantastic having such great authors visit my YAlicious blog for a small interview. It was awesome to get to know their work a little better and the history behind some of their stories. One of the most interesting questions for me was...

 If you could recommend any book to aspiring writers, what would it be and why?

There were some fantastic suggestions, so I thought I'd compile the answers into a list for you.
If you'd like to add any others into the comments section, please feel free.

So - in no particular order....

On Writing by Stephen King. He talks about writing with the passion of the story—getting caught up in the story without worrying about perfection or errors. I think a lot of beginning writers get so caught up in their mistakes that they become stymied. My favorite quote about first drafts is “A first draft is a celebration of everything that can go wrong on a page.”

The Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D. It's an absolute goldmine for character development, and helps to really make your characters three-dimensional, real people.

And Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. It's a book about plotting out screenplays but it 

DEFINITELY applies to novel writing. BIG TIME.

Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon is hands-down the most comprehensive, helpful book on revision. Lyon covers not only copyediting issues, but also voice, theme and symbolism, pacing and characterization.

And here's one from me...

Writing Great Books For Young Adults by Regina Brooks. This book is full of helpful suggestions and things to consider when writing for a YA audience. I took screeds of notes that I refer to all the time.

I hope you manage to get your hands on some of these books. I know I will be working through the ones I haven't read yet.

Do you have any books you'd like to add to the mix? What's your recommended reading for writers?

What Would You Recommend?

I have to admit that I am a very selective and possibly quite narrow-minded reader. I like stories with a strong romantic element, but also filled with tension, drama and mystery.

I read other types of stories and do enjoy them, but I come back to the above criteria over and over.

So - when my sister-in-law asked me to recommend some books for her son, I was a little stumped!

It's quiet a lot of pressure recommending a book to be honest. Writing is so subjective. What I love you might find stupidly sappy, what you love I might find boring and lacking in emotion.

When you recommend a book to someone, what types of books do you go for?
What do you like to read?

By the way - I recommended the Alex Rider Books by Anthony Horowitz and the Gone Series by Michael Grant. Any other suggestions?

I love finding out what people are reading. I often ask in my blog posts. I have been recommended some great books over the past year. My reading list is getting a little ridiculous :)