If you’re looking to improve your creative writing skills, there’s no better place to start than reading. Reading helps us to learn concepts consciously and sometimes even learn new skills unconsciously as we pick up the stylistic choices of the authors we read. So it’s no wonder that we need to choose the books we read carefully if our goal in reading is to improve our writing!
The books below offer a range of styles and each one focuses on different skills that are important–specifically if you are interested in nonfiction/creative nonfiction genres like travel writing. Some offer how-to guides to structure, style, and storytelling; others are learn-by-osmosis books that you may like if you want to develop a specific skill like description or shaping stories.
Either way, let’s jump in and discover ten books that should be on your reading list if you’re looking to improve your writing skills!
Books That Teach Writing Skills
These books–specifically tailored to learning the craft of writing–will help answer your burning questions and call attention to aspects of writing you may never have considered before!
1. Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by Jon Franklin
In Writing for Story, Jon Franklin offers excellent insight into the process of writing a story from real life–taking you on a journey from story conception, to structuring your story, to polishing before publication. Regardless of your current stage in story-writing development, this how-to guide will provide clear steps that you can follow to improve your own writing.
2. The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
This classic guide to writing style should have a place on every writer’s bookshelf. With sections on grammatical usage, composition, words and expressions, and more, The Elements of Style succinctly shares tips on common issues in using the English language. In the age of the internet with all sorts of materials available at our fingertips, this book still packs a punch due to its clear organization and concise nature. You’ll find yourself coming back to it time and time again!
3. Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss
Pick it up for the title–stay for the witty discussion of good punctuation. Where does the title come from, you ask? An old joke about ambiguous punctuation that goes like this…
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, he eats it, then he draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at everyone in the café. “Why?” asks the confused and sole-surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda moves towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. “Well, I’m a panda,” he says. “Look it up.” The waiter turns to the panda entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. “Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”
If this joke is right up your alley, then you are sure to enjoy Lynne Truss’ humorous and delightful approach to punctuation. After all, what’s better than learning without feeling like you’re learning?
4. The Writer’s Mind: Making Writing Make Sense by Michael Adams
This book is an oldie but a goodie, and is actually where I first got my start in writing. Part of its charm is its numerous, specific examples that illustrate the concepts Adams discusses. He won’t just tell you a principle–he illustrates it thoroughly with examples from famous authors. There are also a plethora of writing prompts throughout the book to help you practice your newfound techniques!
5. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Although this book is not necessarily about writing, per se, it is about storytelling and effectively conveying ideas to audiences in “sticky” ways–both of which are concepts that a good writer should understand and be able to use! The Heath brothers will teach you their six principles of “stickiness,” but you won’t ever feel bored because they practice what they preach and use their own principles to make sure the learning process is enjoyable and sticky!
Books to Learn by Osmosis
Part of learning how to improve or polish your writing is learning “by osmosis,” if you will. Put another way, you’ll learn a lot more than you expect while you simply read! (This is probably the biggest way new writers learn to improve their abilities).
Style is, of course, quite subjective…and there are plenty of choices for reading material. But here are five suggestions of some of my favorites to get you started exploring different styles. Let’s get those reading muscles working!
6. Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
This riveting memoir by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry combines the best of beautiful language with the exciting subject of life as an aviator in the early 1900s. In Wind, Sand and Stars, like in his most well-known work The Little Prince, Saint-Exupéry somehow manages to make his work both timely and timeless as he confronts life and death as a pilot and explores all sorts of intellectual conundrums that accompany these questions. By reading this book, you will rediscover the beauty and timelessness of language and will be inspired to try to write as beautifully as he does!
7. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
“What’s that,” you gasp. “A children’s book? On a list of books to improve your writing?!” Yes, indeed it is. Part of what makes this book so captivating (and what makes it make this list) is the way it is told–clever and suspenseful and thoroughly smart. It’s a fun read, but one that also plays with story and clichés in interesting ways. If you’re looking for something slightly unusual and different from your normal reads, or looking to expand your understanding of story-writing style, why not give this children’s book a try?
8. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
What list of books to improve your writing would be complete without a couple classics? Jane Austen’s work makes this list because it is the work of a master–in terms of description and in terms of understanding and conveying humanity. Even if you don’t love this genre, you can learn a lot about writing and conveying likable and unlikable characters in your nonfiction or fiction works.
9. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Next on our list is the novel we all know and love/hate from American high schools. If you somehow escaped reading it, now’s the time. If you’ve already read it, consider a re-reading. I’m not actually a Fitzgerald fan…but The Great Gatsby deserves its place on this list because it has been so influential to our society and really embodies cultural ideas as well as the idea of timelessness in a novel. It has been called lyrical and sophisticated, and certainly there is a lot to learn about imagery and description within this work that makes it well worth a read and a study for anyone looking to improve their writing.
10. Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein
Lastly, looking for something completely different to inspire your writing improvement? If you haven’t read anything by Gertrude Stein yet, you are in for a treat…and a big surprise! Stein’s avant garde style makes her writing seem to move through space rather than time. Some call it confusing, some call it beautiful, some call it human…but regardless, Tender Buttons will open your eyes to new uses of language and the careful choices that should always go into crafting sentences and stories.
What books would you add to this list? Share in the comments below!
Save for Later
This post may contain affiliate links. Check out my disclaimers to learn more.
Leave a Reply