Books You Must Read To Be An Exceptional Writer
Being an aspiring novelist, it is pretty much essential to take advice from professionals and read out other’s work to polish your crafting skills. However, a better option is to read the best books on writing a novel. Studying other’s literary work can help you a lot in developing potential writing skills.
But reading the best books on writing a novel can boost your writing journey to become an inspirational writer. All it takes is dedication, determination, and hard work. With a few hours of your time and a few dollars, you can learn the art and the recipe of crafting a masterpiece.
Personally, I have read numerous books on writing, and I always hunt for those I haven’t read, including the topics that are beneficial for me as a writer. Being an aspiring novelist, you will surely like the books featured in my best books on writing a novel list and enjoy reading them because there are tons and tons of information loaded in these books to make your writing journey fantastic.
So, here are some handful and the best books on writing a novel that I believe will surely help you develop yourself as a better writer.
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
By William Zinsser
William Zinsser was an active journalist, and author, and writing instructor at Yale. On Writing Well is a classic and inspirational book being sold out with nearly 1.5 million copies till now. It is highly recommended if you are seeking to improve your writing as it is equipped with numerous practical lessons and exercises. That’s why it is considered among the best books on writing a novel.
It portrays that writing should be linear and sequential with clear and pleasing sentences. He encourages you to develop writing skills to enable you to write a piece that not just maintains a flow but keeps your readers in mystery every time within the following sentence. It focuses on good old storytelling techniques as it is what pulls your readers the most.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
By Stephen King
Stephen King is an inspirational writer being a mega-best-selling author for decades. On Writing is among his books that instantly became a best seller as it got published. In On Writing, he discusses his overall writing journey and how he maintained his writing career to be what he is today.
However, the second half of his book is devoted to writing strategies featuring his suggestions in every aspect of writing you should focus on to entertain and please your readers. He believes that every novelist has his own ideal readers, and at numerous parts of the story, a writer in his story crafting process thinks that what his readers will perceive by reading this part.
So, he encourages you to search for your ideal reader like your wife, consider their suggestions, and implement them where necessary to provide an ideal reading experience to your readers.
Ernest Hemingway on Writing
By Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway never discussed his personal insights over writing a book, but he did share his thoughts on writing in his commissioned articles and via his novels. Ernest Hemingway on Writing is a collaborative collection of his insights on developing potential writing skills, along with several practical, creative, and inspirational tips.
He focuses on developing a story or a plot that seems natural and not just a depiction. He encourages aspiring writers to write in a way that gives readers an immense experience of that thing. This is what you can do by adding diversity to your plot, including the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful.
Because if all the things are beautiful, it would be similar to a fairytale, and your readers would not experience and believe in it. These practical tips are the reason this book is listed among the best books on writing a novel.
Zen in the Art of Writing
By Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury was a prolific science fiction author. He had a long and successful career which he portrayed in his book featuring the crucial lessons that he learned about writing a masterpiece throughout his successful career.
Ray Bradbury explains the importance of expressions and emotions within the writing. He thinks that you are only half a writer without love, without fun, and without enthusiasm. If your writing is similar to the stated one, it means you have a keen focus on the commercial market instead of being an inspirational writer.
So browse yourself, bring out the only thing you won’t do, and if that’s writing, you will be excited about your every endeavor throughout your writing journey.
Several Short Sentences About Writing
By Verlyn Klinkenborg
Verlyn Klinkenborg is an inspiring author and a creative writing instructor at Yale. In his book Several Short Sentences on Writing, he utilizes a confrontational approach that the most of the wisdom received on how writing works is not just harmful but also wrong. He devotes this book to correcting misconceptions and smashing assumptions related to developing a craft.
He thinks that most people hold an assumption that a correlation exists between the sophistication or complexity of a thought or an idea and sentence length. However, that relationship does not exist. You can convey interesting, smart, or complicated things by utilizing short sentences.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
By Steven Pressfield
Every writer, either aspiring or professional, faces writer’s block in one form or another. However, Steven Pressfield is determined to rescue you from this situation with rich strategies to conquer in his book The War of Art. The first half of his book is dedicated to introducing the resistance a writer feels while writing with potential overcoming strategies.
It prevents you from fulfilling your creative pursuits. Later, he briefly explained those strategies to overcome your potential problems to enable yourself to depict your creativity at its finest. He believes that there is never a specific moment to bring revolution in our lives. Instead, you need to develop the power to alter your destiny.
The second you enable yourself to do so, you can turn the tables on resistance. Keeping in mind the practical tips and strategies, this book is among the best books on writing a novel and being creative.
The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
By Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way is a classical book by Julia Cameron, an author, and a creative coach. She introduces a terminology which she calls morning pages in this book. It is just like a mighty stream of conscious writing exercise that is not destined for publishable material but can significantly help you in getting your pen moving and your thoughts flowing even if you are not ready to share it with the world.
She considers morning pages a powerful weapon to battle Pressfield’s resistance. She states that the morning pages will let you learn how to stop judging and just be yourself and write. It doesn’t matter if you are stressed, tired, or distracted, the artist within yourself is a child, and you must feed him regularly.
So, I hope that this blog enables you to find a book you need for a long time. I gathered the best books on writing a novel to assist you on your writing journey. They would significantly help you acquire the skills necessary for an aspiring writer to craft a masterpiece.
Calvin Adams