5 recs: Craft Books for The Well-Rounded Writer

There are no good writers, only good editors. Getting an MFA is not going to make you a good editor—only life can do that. Experience, art, empathy, curiosity, failure, shame, forgiveness, contradictions, exuberance, complex relationships—all these things make up one’s master lens. As a writer, I feel it is important to stay spherically curious and constantly inspired, because those things will feed one’s lens on life, which will inevitably be used as one’s master lens in writing.

Think of this list as a tasting menu—a suggested meal that covers multiple disciples of artmaking to enrich an editor’s eye and outlook on craft.

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of art making
by David Bayles & Ted Orland

This was the first—and maybe the only—craft book I have ever devoured. Rereading it now is just as impactful (if not more) as when I read it as a teenager. If you are someone who constantly wrestles with fear, self-doubt, anxiety, and/or imposter syndrome in your writing life, I cannot recommend this book enough. It will slap your lack of confidence across the face and school you on why fear remains the #1 killer of productivity and artmaking.

How to Be an Artist
by Jerry Saltz

I keep this book by my computer the same way a mystic might keep a Tarot deck by their altar. It is little, economical, and full of wisdom. Jerry Saltz, a celebrated art enthusiast and Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, draws wisdom from his decades of immersion in the art world. If you are a writer who is not plucking advice from other fine art industries (art, music, performing, design), you are seriously limiting yourself to a very small bubble. This book expands that bubble. Through a series of tips, rules, and exercises, it motivates the creative mind to get up, get going, and keep going.

Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts
by Matt Bell

A must-have for anyone writing in long-form. I cannot say enough nice things about this book. I have always tackled novel writing using a three-draft approach (the Goldilocks approach I like to call it—don’t coin it; I may sue you later) but this book offers a three-draft system that assigns specific lenses and practices to each draft. Its guidance is generous; it permits the writer to not worry about certain aspects of the journey until one reaches a milestone—the next draft. As someone who identifies as a slow editor—who gets so caught up trying to catch everything organically in one read—Bell’s editorial checklists break down the daunting, overwhelming revision journey into a series of achievable tasks.

On Photography
by Susan Sontag

If you have never read Sontag, On Photography is a great book to cut your teeth on. Through a series of seven essays and an exquisite collection of quotes, Sontag ponders our “chronic voyeuristic” nature in a way only a piercing intellectual like Sontag could have. Good writing is image-based; what better way to expand one’s attitude towards Image as a craft element than to read about the influence of modern photography—of capturing and/or absorbing reality in an attached (and detached) way? Anaïs Nin said, “We write to live life twice.” In this digital age, we take and post photographs to live life over and over again. Sontag’s study is relevant to the fascinating (even grotesque) practice of observation and capture, and how that practice interprets what we think is reality. “Needing to have reality confirmed and experience enhanced is an aesthetic consumerism to which everyone is addicted.” If that doesn’t translate to writers, I don’t know what does.

The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry
by Kim Addonizio & Dorianne Laux

This is one of those magical books that proves you don’t have to take a class to learn how to write poetry. This book is a class. It is generous, well-compartmentalized, and includes numerous writing prompts that I continue to use when generating poems.

HONORABLE MENTION

The books above are books I revisit all the time—they are wholly useful and continue to reinvigorate my process. Other books offer invaluable bits of advice but maybe aren’t as captivating as a whole. They are worth purchasing, but for these specific reasons:

“Save the Cat!” by Blake Snyder: The beat sheet. It’s the backbone of the text and is what makes it such a popular craft book among commercial novelists and screenwriters. If you’re working in long-form and enjoy formulaic plot structure (The Hero’s Journey, 3-act system, etc.), this is the book for you. Honestly, it changed the way I approach storytelling and outlining. Unfortunately for Snyder, anyone can find the beat sheet online—several sites have transcribed (and economized) Snyder’s lengthy book into a time-saving blog post. Regardless, I still bought the book. Note: There is a screenwriting version and a novel-writing version. Choose your version not based on what mode you are writing in, but what examples you are more likely to know: films or novels? I write novels, but I was brought up on films and write cinematically, so the screenwriting version made more sense for me.

“The Triggering Town” by Richard Hugo: Mandatory reading for any poet. The reason it didn’t make my list? I wouldn’t call it wholly engaging. Like a short story collection, I found myself truly obsessed with some essays but only mildly engaged with others. However, the essays I did love imprinted on me in a way that changed how I approach poetry—how I attack it, revise it, absorb it, and critique it.

“Ron Carlson Writes a Story” by Ron Carlson: A great “hand-holding” book for beginner short story writers. This is an odd little craft book in the sense that it walks the reader through Carlson’s process as if it were written in real time. The vibe is, “Okay, I’m going to write a story, having no idea what I’m going to write about, and I’m going to communicate my process as I go along.” This book is great for building a stronger appreciation and understanding of the organic chaos that is short story writing.

“The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin: The Art of Happiness meets The Artist’s Way. This is the most recent “craft” book I have read, though I wouldn’t be quick to call it a craft book. It’s more spiritual than that. Imagine you’re in an MFA program and the most decorated professor is coming at you like a Zen Buddhist in a Jewish household—that’s the vibe. There is a broad vagueness to the book that is a little frustrating at times, but that vagueness allows the book to address art-making of all kinds, not just specific industries. Keep this on your shelf for those “dark nights of the soul” when you need clarity about what you create and why. Bonus: the chapters are short, which feels generous to those who might struggle with reading time and/or limited attention span.