Let's Power Up Your Storytelling!
Great Gifts for Writers (Writing Craft Book Edition)
(Originally published December 12, 2022)
Hey, storyteller…or friend of storytellers!
Whether you're looking for a last-minute gift for the writer in your life or taking advantage of year-end sales to give yourself a treat, books on the writing craft are an excellent option.
As an editor and writing coach, I get lots of requests for recommendations, so I thought this would be the perfect time of year to share some of the books that had an impact on my writer's journey, both as I was just starting out and even more recently.
You will discover:
- books to help you set the stage for your story
- books to help you create a compelling cast
- books to help you write sensational scenes
- books to help you edit and understand story
I Have a Gift for You!
First, I have a gift for you, just for visiting my blog, my free workshop, Six Essential Elements of a Powerful Story. This 25-minute video workshop provides tips on how to ramp up the characters, plot, conflicts, setting, and theme of a story, plus how to write all this in a way that makes readers feel like they're living the story with the characters.
If you clicked on this video just to find a writerly gift for someone else, still feel free to copy the link to the workshop. You could it include it on a card or slip of paper along with whatever gift you do choose to give that person, as a little extra bonus. Who knows? That might even win you points for going the extra.
And be sure to read to the end of this post for a special announcement.
Please note, I'd like to keep this post brief, so you can get back to shopping or holiday prep or writing, so I won't be giving a full review of each of the books I list here, just a general synopsis.
Books to Help You Set the Stage
he first couple of books I'll introduce relate to setting the stage for the story. They help authors pull readers into the story from the very first page and design an immersive setting that keeps them there.
Hooked: Write Fiction that Grabs Readers from Page One and Never Lets Go by Les Edgerton
From the back cover: The road to rejection is paved with bad beginnings. Agents and editors agree, improper story beginnings are the single biggest barrier to publication. Why? If a novel or short story has a bad beginning, then no one will keep reading. It's as simple as that.
In Hooked, you will find:
- detailed instructions on how to develop your inciting incident
- keys for creating a cohesive story-worthy problem
- tips on how to avoid common opening gaffes, like overusing backstory
- a rundown on basics, such as opening scene length and transitions
- a comprehensive analysis of more than 20 great opening lines from novels and short stories
Plus, you'll discover exclusive insider advice from agents and acquiring editors on what they look for in a strong opening. With Hooked, you'll have all the information you need to craft a compelling beginning that lays the foundation for an irresistible story.
World Building from the Inside Out by Janeen Ippolito
From the back cover: Build a vibrant story culture that stands out and catches the hearts of your readers! Find the core of your science fiction or fantasy people and instill your narrative with universal themes and concepts derived from real-world cultures. Explore different religions and governments with concise entries that include plot ideas. Develop key aspects of your society without getting caught up in unnecessary details. Learn how the deeper effects of appearance and location can enhance your narrative.
World-building from the Inside Out is a quick, effective culture-building primer that challenges you to go deep and build fantastical societies that bring your story to life.
Note: a companion workbook is also available.
Books to Help You Create a Compelling Cast
Characters are the key to a reader's connection with a story. These two books help authors flesh out each character's role and contribution to the plot and write in a way that makes the reader experience the emotions with the characters.
The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
From the back cover: One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters' feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too much.
If you need inspiration for creating characters’ emotional responses that are personalized and evocative, this ultimate show-don't-tell guide for emotion can help. It includes:
- body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for 130 emotions that cover a range of intensity from mild to severe, providing innumerable options for individualizing a character's reactions
- a breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them
- advice on what should be done before drafting to make sure your characters' emotions will be realistic and consistent
- instruction for how to show hidden feelings and emotional subtext through dialogue and nonverbal cues, and much more
The Emotion Thesaurus, and its easy to navigate list format, will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last.
For my complete review of The Emotion Thesaurus, check out this post.
The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by. Christopher Vogler.
From the back cover: The writer's journey is a guide to the patterns of mythology that lie nestled in all narrative writing. Based upon the work of Joseph Campbell, it offers the reader a set of useful myth-inspired storytelling paradigms and step-by-step guidelines to plot and character development. One of Hollywood's top studio heads made the rough draft of this book required reading for his entire executive staff.
Jeff Arch, the screenwriter of Sleepless in Seattle said, “This is the perfect manual for developing, pitching, and writing stories with universal human themes that will forever captivate a global audience.”
But this book is, by no means, limited to screenwriting. It is an excellent resource for novel and memoir writers as well.
Books to Help You Write Sensational Scenes
Scenes are the building blocks of story. These two books dive into not only the secrets for crafting sensational scenes, but also help authors perfect their plots and ramp up the conflict in their stories.
Make a Scene: Writing a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time by Jordan Rosenfeld.
From the back cover: Scenes are the DNA sequence that makes a novel unputdownable and unforgettable. When writers are able to craft effective, engaging scenes, they can develop a complete, cohesive story and a mesmerizing experience for readers.
Make a Scene takes you step-by-step through the elements of strong scene construction and demonstrates how the essential aspects of a compelling story, including character, plot, and dramatic tension, function within the framework of individual scenes and give momentum to the whole narrative.
You'll learn how to:
- craft an opening scene that hooks readers and foreshadows conflict
- develop various scene types, from contemplative to suspenseful to flashbacks, that are distinct and purposeful
- establish characters' intentions within a scene that drive the plot
- transition into new scenes by clearly establishing details of setting, character, and point of view
- create resonating climactic and final scenes that stay with readers long after they've finished your story
How to Write a Dynamite Scene Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson
From the back cover: The secret to writing a dynamite novel is to first write a dynamite scene, because if you can write one terrific scene, you can write a hundred, and that's a novel. This short book will teach you the simple principles you can use right now to design a powerful scene before you write it.
If you've already written your novel, you can use these same principles to make each scene better.
You will learn:
- the one thing your reader most desperately wants and why
- how to decide which character should have the point of view
- the two kinds of scenes designed to give your reader a powerful, emotional experience and how to know which to use
- five ways to test that your lead character's goal in each scene is perfect
- how to end every scene so it leaves your reader wanting more
- why dilemmas are good and how you can know when they're ruining your scene
- four ways to know that your characters' decisions will drive your story forward
- how to know when a scene is broken; and how to fix it.
For my tips related to the principles shared in this book, check out this post.
Books to Help You Edit and Understand Story
Editing is a crucial step in the writing process. Often, a story doesn't truly come together until that point, but it can be daunting.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King.
From the back cover: Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here, at last, is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the techniques of the editing trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories.
Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same process an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited.
And when the editing or the writing process at any stage becomes tough, writers can use a bit of fun and a reminder of why we do what we do.
Wired for Story: the Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence by Lisa Cron
From the back cover: This guide reveals how writers can utilize cognitive storytelling strategies to craft stories that ignite readers' brains and captivate them through each plot element.
Imagine knowing what the brain craves from each tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets, and it's a game changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper.
Backed by recent breakthroughs in neuroscience, as well as examples from novels, screenplays, and short stories, Wired for Story offers a revolutionary look at story as the brain experiences it. Each chapter zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, it's corresponding revelation about story, and the ways to apply it to your storytelling right now.
Keep in mind, this is a fun read for writers at any stage of the process, whether they're just starting out or have published a number of novels.
This Week's Power-Up
If you follow my blog on a regular basis, you may be wondering what kind of Power-Up I could possibly give you today. Well, there really isn't an action step in terms of writing that you can take based on the topic of this post…unless, that is, you want to check out one of the books I've listed.
Instead, I have a little announcement. Starting in January of 2023, I'm going to be launching a brand new deep-dive series on scene-writing. I have at least four videos planned on that topic so far, and I'm excited to jump into it! I think it will really help you power up your story.
In the meantime, you can check out this post on how to keep writing when life gets in the way. I know, ironic, right?
Have a wonderful Christmas, a blessed New Year...
And keep powering up your storytelling!
Related Posts
Let's Connect!
Make Your Story Powerful!
Watch my FREE 25-minute video workshop to learn the 6 elements every story needs so readers will experience the characters' journey with maximum emotional impact.
You'll also receive weekly writing tips and training via email. We'll never send spam. Unsubscribe at any time
© 2023 B Squared Writer Coaching