Comic book artist Gleb (Robin, Angel) Melnikov tweeted the following statement a few days back: “Superhero fans need to read literally anything else from time to time.” So we were at Comic Booked have decided to resurrect a feature from back in the day: The All Things Writerly column! And what better way to bring it back than by providing a list of must-read books for writers of all ability and skill levels? So, without any further ado, here they are, in no particular order:
The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick
Flash!: Writing the Very Short Story by John Dufresne
The Racial Imaginary: Writers on Race in the Life of the Mind by Claudia Rankine, Beth Loffreda, Max King Cap, and others
How to Write Anything: A Complete Guide by Laura Brown
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
Released into Language: Options for Teaching Creative Writing by Wendy Bishop
The Poets & Writers Complete Guide to Being a Writer: Everything You Need to Know about Craft, Inspiration, Agents, Editors, Publishing, and the Business of Building a Sustainable Writing Career by Kevin Larimer and Mary Gannon
Consider This: Moments in My Life after Which Everything was Different by Chuck Palahniuk
The Art of Asking: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
So there you have it. There are thousands (hundreds of which are actually really, really good) of craft books out there, but these are the ones that have prominent places on our bookshelves. And the ones that leave the shelves and make it to the writing desk. Hope you’ll check them out. These folks really know their stuff.
