Top 20 Creative Writing Books to Read in 2023

Creative writing books is an academic discipline. I think most people who teach creative writing have come to it through writing – they are bona fide writers who publish poems and novels, play scripts, etc. They have established some way of supporting that vocation through having a career in academia. So in teaching interested writers how to write, they draw upon their experience working in that medium. They are drawing upon their comprehension of the problems and how those problems might be solved. 

Top Creative Writing Books

1. Zen in the Art of Writing 

By Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury’s little book of essays about writing and creativity is a vital little pocket of inspiration. I’ve read it half a dozen times, but I still love to read it more. It’s a collection of essays; you can pick it up and read what you love when you wish it.

Bradbury’s suggestions for fiction writers have shaped my writing life. He favors, especially, short stories and reading a lot. And watching movies. One of my favorite parts of this book is how Bradbury breaks down how and why he wrote some of my favorite short stories.

2. On Writing by Stephen King

Ultimately, it’s about enhancing the lives of those who will read the writer’s work and your own life. It’s about getting up, well, and over. In 1997, I conveyed a query letter to Dog Fancy magazine, pitching a concept for an article about dog-friendly restaurants in Las Vegas. They accepted.

3. Write. Publish. Repeat. 

By Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant

When I finally picked up this book to read, I fell in love with the book. Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant, and David Wright are genius at solving how to meld art and business without losing what’s essential about either one.

Seriously, they’ve formed the art of the business of writing, and it’s incredible. If you don’t listen to their Self-publishing Podcast, you must. And definitely, read this book.

Whether your plan is traditional publishing, learning the business of being an author is essential. 

4. How to Write Using the Snowflake Method 

By Randy Ingermanson

In How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method, the Snowflake technique is introduced by its writer. This quick yet thorough plotting and outlining structure is a reserve and easy to master if you don’t have time to read a bunch of books on outlining and the hundreds of pages required. 

5. Meander, Spiral, Explode- ( Design and Pattern in Narrative) 

By Jane Alison

.

A most unconventional writing craft book, Meander, Spiral, Explode, present a theory of narrative (story) as recognizable patterns. According to author Jane Alison, writing has three critical narratives: meandering, spiraling and exploding. This cerebral book is an equal parts seminar on literary theory as it is a craft, and it will make you understand and learn storytelling better than maybe any book on this list.

6. The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop –

By Stephen Koch

This is one of the oldest creative writing books I have ever read, and it remains the best I’ve read. Reading The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop echoes the mind-body-spirit verge you must take to writing. The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop doesn’t educate you on the nuts and bolts of writing as much as it tells you how to visualize the machine. It is an outstanding book about getting into the mindset of being an excellent writer, not just in a commercial sense, but as your emotion and identity. 

7. Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes

You must get Gwen Hayes’s Romancing the Beat if you love to write romantic stories. This book breaks down the plot points or “beats” you wish to hit while designing your romance novel. For a romance novel outliner, Romancing the Beat acts as a bible; you can structure every outline around Hayes’s formula. For romance writers, one cannot endorse it any higher.

8. Bird by Bird – (Some Instructions on Writing and Life) 

by Anne Lamott

You only require this book to learn how to write and sell picture books. As a student studying children’s literature, I’ve consulted with this book several times as I’ve put my toes into writing picture books, a form I considered scary and intimidating until reading this book. 

9. On Writing Well-  (An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction) 

by William Zinsser

William Zinsser is a writer, editor, and teacher. He started his career in the New York Herald Tribune and has written constantly for leading magazines. During the 1970s, he was a master of Branford College at Yale. His 17 books cover the influential Writing to Learn and Writing About Your Life, errant from baseball to music to American travel. He professional teaches at the New School in New York and the Columbia University School of Journalism.

10. The Elements of Style 

by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

William Strunk was born on (1 July 1869 – 26 September 1946) and was a professor of English at Cornell University and the author of The Elements of Style (1918). After rework and expansion by his former student E. B. White, it became a practical guide to English usage during the late 20th century, commonly called Strunk & White. He earned a B.A degree at the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1896. 

11. Indie Writer Survival Guide 

By Susan Kaye Quinn

A friend introduced me to Indie Author Survival Guide by Susan Kaye Quinn. But it’s full of great information. It’s like relaxing down with a friend whose several steps ahead of you in this thing and having her tell you all of her secrets.

Quinn is a solid mid-list indie author, and she discusses how she got there a lot in the book. I love the way she talks about things that feel possible for any writer. Often, when you read about someone’s success, they’ve achieved something or had something happen to them that isn’t replicable by the average writer.

12. The War of Art- (Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles)

By Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield is a bestselling historical novelist whose books cover the classic Gates of Fire, Alexander: The Virtues of War, The Afghan Campaign, and Killing Rommel. The writer lives in Los Angeles.

13. How to Write a Damn Good Novel

By James N. Frey

He is the author of The Last Patriot, the Armageddon Game, and The Elixir. He coaches courses in novel writing and suspense fiction at the University of California, Berkeley, Extension.

14. The Artist’s Way 

 By Julia Cameron

The writer has been an active artist for four decades. She is worked on more than forty books, fiction and nonfiction. Bestselling works on the creative process, such as The Artist’s Way, Walking in this World, and Finding Water. 

15. Writing Down the Bones-  (Freeing the Writer Within) 

By Natalie Goldberg

She is the author of ten books. Her best-seller book was sold over one million copies and translated into twelve languages. For the last thirty years, she has skilled Zen and taught seminars in writing as a spiritual practice. 

16. The Writing Life 

By Annie Dillard

She is the author of ten books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winner Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, An American Childhood, The Living, Mornings, and many more. Besides, she is a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters and has been awarded fellowship grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was born in 1945 in Pittsburgh, Dillard shown Hollins College in Virginia. After five years in the Pacific Northwest, she retreated to the East Coast, where she stayed with her family.

17. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation   

By Lynne Truss

She is a writer and journalist who began as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then diverged. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she passed six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She topped Columnist of the Year for her work for Women’s Journal. 

18. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print 

By Renni Browne and Dave King

 Formerly an editor for William Morrow and other publishers, they established The Editorial Department in 1980 to educate fiction writers on the methods professional editors apply to prepare a manuscript for publication. Dave King has been the senior editor with the firm since 1987. Both Browne and King offer workshops for writers around the country.

19. Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel 

 By Lisa Cron 

She is the writer of Wired for Story and Story Genius. Her TEDx talk, Wired for Story, clear Furman University’s 2014 TEDx Conference, The Common Thread of Our Humanity. Lisa has worked in delivery at W.W. Norton, as an agent at the Angela Rinaldi Literary Agency, as a creator on shows for Showtime and Court TV, and as a story analyst for Warner Brothers and the William Morris Agency. Since 2006 she has been a mentor in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, and she is the trainer of the School of Visual Arts Program in Visual Narrative in New York City.

20. Writing Tools-  (Fifty Essential Strategies for Every Writer) 

By Roy Peter Clark

Roy Peter Clark, a writer who coaches and writes teacher, is vice president and senior scholar of the Poynter Institute, one of the world’s most prestigious journalism schools. He has written or edited many books about writing and journalism and spoken about the writer’s craft on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR, and Today. This is one of the best creative writing books for French learners.

conclusion

Books that teach the art of writing provide a great way of learning the ins and outs of writing at a much lower price than taking, for example, a creative Writing Course. By reading a book, you use a massive amount of research in a relatively short time, which is one of the best ways to enrich your skills.

The only problem is that there are a lot of Books for Writers in the market, and there are many more to come. So you can get confused about which one to pick. Here is a list that can help you to decide on your book.

FAQs