Other Top Books for Writers

After reviewing hundreds of books of writing advice, I’m putting together a list of top recommendations for your library. I’ll tell why I think a particular book makes the top list.
Here is (the beginnings of, in no particular order) the current list (in progress):

A Writer’s Coach:
The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies that Work
by Jack Hart (2006)
[Note: the hardcover edition had a slightly different subtitle.]

To order from Amazon.com, click here.
Focus: Nonfiction (Journalism). Audience: Writers at all levels

Why I’m recommending this: I learn something every time I pick up this amazing book.

Jack Hart is editor at large for The Oregonian and has coached writers for many years while mastering the craft himself. His book is a clear, well-organized set of great advice on how to craft the journalistic report or story (and by extension, many other forms of writing).

The Table of Contents shows the approach: Method, Process, Structure, Force, Brevity, Clarity, Rhythm, Humanity, Color, Voice, Mechanics, Mastery.

I love any list for what good writing needs that includes force, brevity, clarity, rhythm. Too many writers can produce run-of-the-mill work, but haven’t learned to elevate their work to the next level.

Jack Hart’s techniques will help you. Best of all, he practices what he preaches. The book’s succinctness is wonderful.

This is one of the least-fluff, most bang-for-the-buck book on writing I have on my bookshelf. It’s definitely one of the best books on craft for nonfiction writers. You’ll read it many times . . . and enjoy it each time.

The First Five Pages:
A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
by Noah Lukeman (1999, paperback 2005)

To read my entire post on this book, click here.
To order from Amazon.com, click here.

Focus: Fiction, but with application for nonfiction projects
Audience: Emerging writers

Why I’m recommending this: it delivers lucid, crucial knowledge about writing well. But most of all, it drives home the industry imperative: you must make a (nearly) perfect impression in the first several pages. It’s how the industry works. And as a practical principle, it holds water. If the first 5 pages don’t impress, why would the rest?

Let’s face it, many books pitch well. A great several-paragraph pitch to an agent can be written for most projects. A bigger test comes in the first reading at the agency (or publisher). This will be done by a very busy person, one who has an incredible quantity of other works at their fingertips to consider.

So the real value of this work on craft is in combining the issues of craft (found elsewhere) with that filter of always keeping in mind the realities of the business: you need to impress the influential people in the middle (agents, editors) . . . and you need to always remember that all readers are busy, easily distracted, unwilling to part with their hard-earned money and precious time, and that there is a ton of competition easily available. Impress (and do it from the beginning), or readers will turn elsewhere.