New writers are always desperately looking for craft books that will improve their writing. Even experienced writers will often struggle with an issue and start running for a craft book to fix the problem. If this is you, I promise you are not alone.
If you have been following this blog for a while, you should know my attitude about craft books.
These will not fix your problems.
The best way to improve your writing is two-fold: 1) study other writers that are similar to you and really analyze the writing; and 2) continue to practice.
The purpose of reading a craft books or attending a workshops is to get you to think about your writing in a new way. These are not to provide you a single answer or fix-all that will get you through your writing. Part of the reason for this is that every situation is completely different.
If I were to give you one thing to look for, I would recommend finding books that don't just tell you what goes into a story, or those that give you only worksheets to complete. Look for those books that give you examples and then discuss what is happening in that piece of writing.
As you look at these examples, or even as you read a novel by another author, stop and ask why that approach works or doesn't work. This is called dissecting that novel. Once you see that, then go back and study your own writing. Try that approach and see if that is going to work for you.
So, if you were looking for a specific list, I am sorry to disappoint you. But, if you take the time to do this analytical work, you will find some great success.
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