Image courtesy of NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo also offers guidance on writing a 50,000 word novel in November. Preparation can start earlier! Their website outlines starting in September with:
You'll be ready to write, write, write in November!
How We Write: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blank Page by
This collection is not about how TO write, but how WE write: unlike a prescriptive manual that promises to unlock the secret to efficient productivity, the contributors talk about their own writing processes, in all their messy, frustrated, exuberant, and awkward dis/order.
Writing and Personality: Finding Your Voice, Your Style, Your Way by
Here's a book that taps into the natural strengths of your personality and helps you use those strengths in your writing.
Writing for Others, Writing for Ourselves: Telling Stories in an Age of Blogging by
"... a book on nonfiction story telling with time-proven techniques to beat writer's block and hone the skills necessary to write well."
Once Upon a Time It Was Now: The Arts & Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by
The author compares historical novelists to historians. While a historian stands firmly planted in the present and looks back into the past, a historical novelist has a more immediate task: to set readers in the midst of bygone events and lead them forward, allowing them to live and feel the wonderment, fear, hope, triumph, and pain as if they were there.
Writing the Novella by
While the novella has existed as a distinct literary form for over four hundred years, Writing the Novella is the first craft book dedicated to creating this intermediate-length fiction.
Literary Non-Fiction: a Writers' and Artists' Companion by
...an essential guide to writing in a wide range of genres, from travel writing to feminist polemic and writing on nature, history, death, friendship and sexuality.
Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition by
Burroway's tone is personal and nonprescriptive, welcoming learning writers into the community of practiced storytellers. Moving from freewriting to final revision, the book addresses "showing not telling," characterization, dialogue, atmosphere, plot, imagery, and point of view. It includes new topics and writing prompts, and each chapter now ends with a list of recommended readings that exemplify the craft elements discussed, allowing for further study.
The Cambridge Companion to Creative Writing by
This book is a must for all students and teachers of creative writing, indeed for anyone who aspires to be a published writer.
Zen in the Art of Writing by
In a series of essays, Bradbury discusses his career and his compulsion to write. Nine essays discuss the joy of writing, the writing process, inspiration, creativity, and the circumstances surrounding the writing of several of his works.
On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft by
This volume "really contains two books: a fondly sardonic autobiography and a tough-love lesson for aspiring novelists", written by American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy, Stephen King.
Reading Like a Writer: a Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by
Prose invites you on a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters. She reads the very best writers and discovers why their work has endured.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by
Anne Lamott recounts her personal experiences to reveal her writing techniques and how she overcomes obstacles that interfere with the writing flow. She offers concrete suggestions about character, plot, setting, and other topics of interest to writers.