5 Books for Writers I Couldn't Live Without

I was putting away some books on a "new" bookshelf we have that's been sitting bare and waiting for about 4 months, easily. All of my favourite books go near the top, while all of the heavy ones sit on the bottom. As I placed several of my books on writing in the second-to-the-top shelf, I thought about which ones really shaped who I am as a writer today. That's where this post came from, I suppose. While many fiction books helped as well, and I may do a follow-up post on that subject, these are the books on writing that helped me become the sort of writer I wanted to be.

The 3AM Epiphany by Brian Kiteley - This is probably one of my absolute favourite prompt/craft books. Even though it's not a book on craft in itself, the prompts within it help develop your abilities anyway. When you want a little inspiration or you want ideas on how to push something forward, this book swoops in and saves the day. It's great for creating background stories or for just coming up with ideas, and it does so in a writerly way rather than a "let's brain storm" sort of way.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers - This book should be required reading by every author. If you want to understand the way you work, or if you want to take self-editing to the next level, this book works great. It helped me find some of my trouble areas, to say the least, and it helped me develop my own editing checklist. I kid you not, this book sits on the side-table next to my bed.

Writing Great Books for Young Adults - This one's a little specific to what I write, but is a good one for anyone interested in writing for the YA crowd. Even though I read a lot of YA, this book can be helpful for those who don't or those who are older than the target audience. Young Adult fiction is a totally different beast than adult fiction and this book is helpful in understanding those differences.

Elements of Fiction Writing - Conflict, Action & Suspense by William Noble - I'll admit, I could do with a little refresher on this one, but it's another one of the most notable books I own. It's especially helpful for scenes that need a lot of action, but don't feel quite up to par.

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass - This is one of those books that even though I bought and read it when I first realised I wanted to start taking writing seriously, it still comes in handy now that I have a couple of books under my belt. More so than that, it will likely still be helpful when I have a hundred books in my repertoire.






You'll notice that I don't have Ursula LeGuin's Steering the Craft or Stephen King's On Writing on my list. Probably two of the most influential books for fiction writers. The reason, I suppose, is that they are not used on a regular basis for me. When I'm stuck on something while working on a book or short story, I don't go to either of these for answers or for inspiration. I go to one (or several) of the above five. So, while I do recommend Steering the Craft and On Writing, they are not books that I couldn't live without.

Infinity and Craft

It's that time again! I'm going to share an exercise I did using 3 AM Epiphany, which is one of the most useful book of writing exercises I have ever used. The point of the exercise was to write something that felt the way an infinity symbol looked, and gave an episode of Start Trek (when the ship gets stuck in a time loop) as an example. I've always been a huge fan of this type of story and wanted to give it a try.

Something I discovered afterward was the style in which I wrote the exercise. I've been reading a lot of Hemingway for another class and am really fond of the minimalist style in which he writes. I took a minimalist approach to this exercise using mostly dialogue and only detail when necessary. I often tend to write like this, which is often my downfall in novel writing, and I think doing so for this exercise helped with the feeling of mystery and dread I was trying to convey. However, I don't think I did it on purpose. It was more of an instinctual thing, which is good, but I wonder if I will have to remind myself of these things later when I'd like to replicate the effect or if I will do it naturally again.

MFA in Creative Writing

If you don't already know, I've recently enrolled in a MFA program for Creative Writing. I am so excited about it, but I can't help but feel a nagging in the back of my mind telling me that I might be wasting my money. While I understand that having an MFA is not required for most jobs, I'd like to be able to teach higher education. So, having my MFA is important for that. Also, if I could make a living off of going to school, I totally would. I love school and learning and teaching. But alas, being a Professional Student is not a paying profession.

Let's start from the beginning. Ever since I was a child, I've been writing. I remember staying up all night sometimes writing stories. When I was in high school, I found my love for art and animation. I decided that I wanted to get a degree in illustration. I did, for the most part, but because of issues with my school, the program I was in and my own burn out, I found myself graduating in a hurry with a B.A. in Studio Art. What does that degree even mean? I couldn't begin to tell you because I wasn't in that program until my last semester. After graduation, I ended up in my current job doing web design, marketing, graphic design, etc. All things I like to do, but I've never had formal training for. I've been building websites and coding and working in flash since I was 15, but I apparently lack creativity. Which, I suppose, was part of the problem I had in school too.

Why did I share all of this? I needed to paint a picture of why I'm now struggling with my decision and with my life (financially and living situationally). I have a degree that is pretty much useless, a love for story telling and teaching that wants to explode from me, and a knack for coding/IT. I wonder if I should just nut up and go back for a degree in coding/IT because I'm afraid that even an MFA in creative writing will be as useless as the BA I currently hold. At the same time, having my masters opens up teaching possibilities, but will not likely provide the financial stability that IT would. I'd be poor, but happy. And honestly... I can live with that. And this is why I will be getting my MFA. Sure, the back of my mind is doubting, but my heart is telling me that this is something I should do.

For anyone who reads this and is trying to decide whether or not to get a degree in creative writing: Do what you feel in your heart is right. When I was researching, this was pretty much the most common answer and I know it pissed me off. I wanted a clear, set in stone answer... but now I realise why there isn't one. In the end, you will come out a better writer with more opportunities and hopefully feel fulfilled and happy. That seems like a great reason to me.

What are your thoughts on getting degrees in writing?