Our writing career, no matter how great or small, should be treated as a profession. Therefore, we should never stop trying to be the best professional authors we can be.

Today, I’m going to discuss books on writing. There are literally hundreds of them, so it’s difficult to know which ones to choose. As with anything, there are good books on writing and there are bad books on writing. That being said, I’d suggest asking someone else in the business. Start with your critique or writing group and consult with your author buddies. If you don’t belong to a group, search the internet. I find the best advice within other author blogs, so you might want to start there.

To save you some time and trouble, I’ve done a bit of searching myself over the years and compiled a list of books that many authors use and recommend. I don’t have a huge library of books (yet), but here’s a few I’ve purchased:

• Flip Dictionary – Barbara Ann Kipfer, Ph.D.
• First Draft in 30 Days – Karen S. Wiesner
• 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them – Ronald B. Tobias
• Character Naming Source Book – Sherrilyn Kenyon

The above books are available through Writer’s Digest. It provides a wealth of books and other resources for writers. You can join this site and sign up to receive emails announcing discount sales on books and links to useful articles on writing.

My friend and critique partner, Lynn Squire, is forever looking for ways to improve her writing craft and gives great information in her blog. The following is a list of books she recommends:

• The First Five Pages, A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile, by Noah Lukeman
• Plot & Structure, by James Scott Bell
• The Writer’s Journey, by Christopher Vogler
• Getting into Character, by Brandilyn Collins
• Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint, by Nancy Kress
• Dynamic Characters, by Nancy Kress
• Dialogue, by Gloria Kempton
• Writing Dialogue, by Tom Chiarella
• Description & Setting, by Ron Rozelle
• Writing for Emotional Impact, by Karl Iglesias
• How to Write and Sell a Christian Novel, by Gilbert Morris
• The Complete Guide to Writing & Selling the Christian Novel, by Penelope J. Stokes, Ph.D.
• Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass
• Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein
• Techniques of the Selling Writer, by Dwight V. Swain
• How to Write a Damn Good Novel, A step-by-step no nonsense guide to dramatic storytelling, by James N. Frey
• Techniques of Fiction Writing: Measure and Madness, by Leon Surmelian
• The Complete Guide to Writing Biographies, by Ted Schwarz

I printed her list, risking the appearance of laziness, but I couldn’t help myself. Lynn amazes me with the research she does in order to be a better writer.

In addition to books written specifically about the craft of writing, you shouldn’t be without a good dictionary. Make sure it’s a recent edition so you’ll have the latest words. Also, make sure you have a good thesaurus as well as a book on basic grammar (Lynn recommends Polishing the “PUGS”, by Kathy Ide).

Do you have some favorite books not listed here that you’d like to recommend? Please share. We can use all use a little help!