Affordable Training for Writers to Improve Their Craft

When I was young, I constantly looked for ways to improve as a writer. 

I loved the idea of attending conferences and considered applying to an MFA program, but funds were low and time was scarce. 

I needed accessible, affordable training. At the time, online courses and coaches weren’t available, so I turned to a resource that continues to serve writers today:

Books. 

Budget-Friendly Writing Input

For me, books about writing continue to serve as an ongoing, low-cost, continuing education program. They provide professional development for cheap (or free, when I borrow library copies).

Turns out I’m not the only one to enroll in this budget-friendly professional development program.  

Robert Dugoni’s Study Plan

Novelist Robert Dugoni faced the same challenges I did years ago, when he wrote a novel he couldn’t get published. Upon revisiting the manuscript, he realized he had more to learn.

“It started with recognizing my limitations,” he says. “Recognizing my weakness. Recognizing that I wasn’t good enough to get published. Unless I changed, I wasn’t going to.”

He continues:

I didn’t have the finances or time to go back and get an MFA in creative writing, so I went down to the LA Bay bookstore, went to their ‘How-To’ section and started pulling writing books off the shelf. I started picking up the books that spoke to me. The practical structure books. The practical ‘here’s how you create characters that are empathetic’ books. And I started taking notes. Literally reading and studying…I was learning in these books on the craft…I literally took notes on the computer and I created a binder this thick [holds forefinger and thumb about six inches apart] that I now teach out of. {1}

After applying techniques he learned from those books, he revised and sold that first novel and today, Dugoni is a New York Times bestselling writer with over six million readers.

His experience gleaning a literary education from books plucked from the shelves of a local bookstore reminded me of all the books I’d turned to over the years on experimenting with structure, overcoming mental roadblocks, expanding vocabulary, understanding the publishing industry, and improving skills.

Like Dugoni, I read, studied, and took notes—I learned the craft.

Those authors coached me. I became a better writer because experienced professionals took time to pass along wisdom on the pages of books.

Favorite Books on Writing

I’ve read a lot of books on writing, but not all, of course, so I did a little crowdsourcing to discover new titles. A few weeks ago I asked writers on Instagram to share their favorite writing books.

They filled the comments with multiple recommendations. Apparently Robert Dugoni and I aren’t the only ones who have soaked up instruction and inspiration from writers who penned books on writing.

You want to see what your fellow writers offered up as their top picks?

Here’s the list, starting with the most frequently mentioned titles:

• Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott
• Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within, by Natalie Goldberg
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King
• Adorning the Dark: Thoughts on Community, Calling, and the Mystery of Making, by Andrew Peterson
• On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser
• Dancing on the Head of a Pen: The Practice of a Writing Life, by Robert Benson
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing my Life, by Donald Miller (Amanda notes that it’s “not strictly on writing” but it’s a favorite “writing-related” book: “A whole education on story, plus a super fun memoir.”
• The Memoir Project: A Thoroughly Non-Standardized Text for Writing & Life, by Marion Roach Smith
• Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, by Madeleine L’Engle
• The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield
• The Art of Memoir, by Mary Karr
• The Art of Slow Writing, by Louise DeSalvo
• Simple & Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers, by Jacques Barzun (this one, recommended by Clarissa Moll, was new to me)
• The Art of Spiritual Writing: How to Craft Prose That Engages and Inspires Your Readers, by Vinita Hampton Wright
• Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, by Dani Shapiro
• Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer’s Path, by Nicole Gulotta
• Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande
• Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing, by L.L. Barkat
• The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard
• On Being a Writer: 12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life That Lasts, by Charity Singleton Craig and me (!)
• The Writer’s Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life, by Priscilla Long
• Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear, by Ralph Keyes
• Writing Toward Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way, by Georgia Heard
• Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading, by Nancy M. Malone
• Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True, by Elizabeth Berg
• Writing, by Margeurite Duras (translated by Mark Polizzoti)
• One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer’s Art and Craft, by Susan M. Tiberghien
• The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life, by Julia Cameron
• Writing Life Stories: How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays, and Life into Literature, by Bill Roorbach
• Steering the Craft: A 21st-Century Guide to Sailing the Sea of Story, by Ursula K. Le Guin
• If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit, by Brenda Ueland
• Writer to Writer: A Practical Handbook on the Craft of Writing—From Idea to Contract, by Brock and Bodie Thoene
• Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere), by Lisa Cron

(Purchase wherever you wish, but consider buying through Bookshop, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores; if you click through from the links I’ve provided, I receive a small commission at purchase.) 

Authors as Mentors

Books on writing have answered my questions when I didn’t understand aspects of publishing. They inspired me to test new techniques, trust the process, and be patient with myself.

I’m indebted to these authors who served as mentors, pouring their knowledge onto the page. These books made me a better writer.

But only because I applied their teaching.

Apply What You Learn

Books on writing only work if we put into practice the ideas we read about.

That’s a critical step:

Take notes on what you read, yes, but then…take action!

When we integrate the advice into our work, books on writing can sustain us, encourage us, and push us to write better than ever.

How about you?

1. What’s one aspect of your writing life that changed for the better after reading a book about writing?
2. Would you add any books to the list?

Footnote

{1} Cockrell, Justin. “Get into Character with Robert Dugoni.” Writer’s Digest, 17 Sept. 2015, www.writersdigest.com/dec-15/get-into-character-with-robert-dugoni.

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