If you’ve ever done a job you really, really love, at a certain point you begin to ask yourself how it works, why it’s important, and how those who have come before you have done it. I remember once hearing a writing teacher tell me that you should read all the craft books when you’re in school, but I tend to disagree with that. I read a lot of important books on good writing when I was in college (Zinsser’s On Writing Well and Strunk and White’s Elements of Style come to mind), but many things I couldn’t fully understand until I had some writing under my belt.
In addition to just reading a lot, I also like to read writing theory – what works, why it does and how to craft stories based on solid foundations. Here’s my stack of a few favorites. (I keep them around because I like to reference them from time to time). And, no, that’s not even all of them. There’s another stack upstairs, near my desk.
Addictions, you know.
