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?