5 Books on Writing you NEED on your KU Shelf Immediately
Working Title: I went through 400 pages of KU results to find the best books on writing so you don't have to!
Thank you to everyone who took advantage of my free first coaching session offer in May 2024! It was delightful to meet with you. My calendar is now full through July 14th, 2024. If you would like to get on the waiting list for coaching or developmental edits, send me a message here or at Book Bound Coaching!
Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s e-book service that allows subscribers to borrow up to twenty titles at a time, is a wonderful tool for aspiring writers hoping to stay on top of trends. If you are an avid reader, or if your library has a long waitlist on e-book titles, the $11.99 USD monthly fee is money well spent. Even better, you can keep your titles for as long as you want! While I originally signed up for my subscription as a means of having access to romance and romantasy books my library didn’t carry, I’ve discovered KU is also a great resource for finding books on how to write fiction IF you are careful to vet the titles.
The search using the term “how to write fiction” returns over 400 pages of results. Clearly, many of those titles contain bad advice—if not full-on falsehoods. I am sorry, but you will not make 100K in the next 30 days by writing a book. It will also take more than two weeks to go from draft to publication. And while you COULD self-publish that book you wrote in 30 days, do you really want to put your name on something that hasn’t been edited? My professional advice is to avoid books that make wild promises of success in the title. Writing is a craft, a practice, and an art. As someone who prides herself on holding space in my heart for my stories as well as those of my clients, I find it offensive to treat your novel as a get-rich-quick scheme.
For those of you hoping to land a traditional publishing contract, I would also avoid any books promoting AI. While I am not anti-AI—I adore ProWriting Aid for help with grammar—the rules concerning how publishers are going to handle AI-assisted manuscripts have not been codified yet. Until we know their stance on the proper uses of AI for the creative side of writing, I would avoid using tools like Chat GPT or Sudowrite. Should you be in violation of those future rules, you may find yourself with a manuscript that you cannot sell.
With all of that out of the way, here are my Top 5 Picks for Writing Books on KU for beginning and intermediate level aspiring authors!
Writing Compelling Fiction: Master the Fundamentals of Unforgettable Stories by Shirley Jump
Writing Compelling Fiction is at the top of this list because Shirley Jump and I both value writing books that make a difference in the world. Also, like me, when she transitioned from writing non-fiction/journalism to fiction, she though the switch would be “a piece of cake”.
I love sweets and wish this were the case. Rather, I’ve found “just making it up” is far more difficult than anything else I’ve ever done!
The book is divided into four main parts that focus on plot, scene, character, and writing. As one of the only books on KU with a lot of detail on scene and sequel structure, I was delighted to find this information. The number one issue I highlight when performing developmental edits on manuscripts is a lack of scene and sequel, or action and reaction, sequences. In addition to laying this information out, Jump provides a list of questions for you to use as a self-editing tool after completing your first draft.
The information on choosing the best POV to create the strongest emotional impact on the reader is also top-notch. Her advice on revision is a little different than what I’ve seen from other teachers and coaches. She suggests going back and doing an edit of the first draft when you reach a point where the writing stalls. Instead of encouraging the writer to tough it out to the end, her advice is to print out the draft and make notes of what is working and what is not. She uses those notes to determine how to end the story. (She is more of a panster than a plotter, and is basically discovery writing that initial draft).
On my large monitor, this title has 187 pages. It is in-depth without overwhelming newer writers.
The Eight Crafts of Writing: The Map of Storytelling by Stefan Emunds
Where do I even begin? At 4006 pages, one might think this book would be an incomprehensive tome. However, it reminds me of an entire semester’s worth of notes for a class called Fiction 101. The image on the cover accurately represents the vibe of this book. Between the concise prose and numerous diagrams, this is an overview of the nuts and bolts of fiction.
Starting with a basic definition of story and then moving on to the eight areas shown on the cover, this book could be considered a one-stop-shop. I especially love the sections on the psychology of storytelling, the types of adversity and why you can never have enough, and the tips on managing pace and rhythm at the sentence, paragraph, and chapter level. Emund’s final sentence is expert advice is spot-on in thinking about your story once published. “From here on out, your readers own your story.” Just like a baby bird leaving the nest, you have to let it go, something important to remember if you are writing for a commercial audience.
The Secrets to Creating Character Arcs by John S. Warner
While a lot of the discourse around writing revolves around outlining or pantsing your plot, I believe stories that focus on character first are the ones that stay with readers. Plot is obviously vital, but there are two truths about writing that aspiring writers sometimes forget:
Readers will not care one whit about all of your awesome worldbuilding and epic moments if they don’t have an emotional connection to your characters.
Story isn’t the plot. Story is the journey of a character’s growth.
Another point this book makes beautifully is that the underlying structure of your story “defines how you will narrate or present your story to the readers.” BOOM. This affects not only the plot but also your main characters arc of growth. As such, he details a number of structures used by fiction writers today including Freytag’s Pyramid, the Hero’s Journey, Dan Harmon’s Story Circle, and the ever popular Save the Cat Beat Sheet.
The rest of the book teaches you how to create and write characters readers will love rather than flat, boring characters or—worse—caricatures. With considerations beyond age and physical description, there is discussion on how to write important characters beyond the protagonist and antagonist. Armed with that information, Warner then has a series of questions to aid you in creating the character’s arc of change and marrying that to the structure of choice.
Plot Basics by Paul Tomlinson
After presenting all that information on the importance of character, I don’t want you to think plot isn’t important. It is! Those characters can’t sit around watching TV all day.
Since this book is geared towards newer writers, Tomlinson sticks with the basic Three Act Structure. After providing loads of information on setting up the three acts, he provides his own beat-sheet approach that divides the plot into sequences containing key elements. For example, the first quarter/first sequence has an opening hook, a blend of introducing the setting and hero, narration to ground the reader, and the inciting incident (among many other elements). The final quarter/sequence begins with the reaction to the big crisis, a discovery or revelation, the final battle, and of course the ending.
Finally, there is a nice overview of the elements each type of genre requires in its plot. While this blog focuses on romantasy, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be familiar with the other types of genres. They might feature in your secondary plot! For example, the big “B” plot in Crescent City focuses on solving a murder. There is also a section on action/adventure plots, which is a must-have skill if you are writing an epic romantasy.
Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark
Now that you have a number of titles on that KU shelf that will help you write your novel, I wanted to include a book to get you started on the revision. Writing Tools is a book that focuses less on story and more on grammar. While most romantasy writers aren’t trying to win a Nobel Prize, you should nonetheless strive to write a book that both honors your voice and conveys your point in the clearest manner possible. Should you take the information in this book to heart, you will learn a number of useful habits that will take you from aspiring to published author.
As the title implies, there are 55 chapters, each focused on the craft of writing. Tool 1 is as basic as it gets: Begin sentences with subjects and verbs. “Make meaning early, then let weaker elements branch to the right.” Simple and logical, right? And yet how many times do we ramble on? I know I do!
A few of my other favorites includes Tool 5: Watch those adverbs; Tool 13: Play with words, even in serious stories; Tool 28: Put odd and interesting things next to each other; Tool 38: Prefer archetypes to stereotypes; and Tool 48: Limit self-criticism in early drafts. All 55 tools are amazing, and of all the books listed in this article, this is the one I would like in paperback on my reference shelf.
Have you read any of these books, or are you planning on checking them out? Let me know in the comments. See you in two weeks! I will be reviewing what has become my FAVORITE book of the year so far, A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen!