Books About Writing
Tags:On the message board for Hello Story someone asked for a list of some of my favorite books about writing and writing our stories. I wanted to share that here as well.
Here's a few that I have loved over the years and have come back to again and again:
Take Joy: A Writer's Guide To Loving The Craft by Jane Yolen
Inventing The Truth The Art And Craft Of Memoir (a book of writings by writers about memoirs)
And a new one that a friend sent that looks very interesting:

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26 comments
Thanks for sharing. Loving your Hello Story workshop! Awesome prompts and ideas.
Cheers, Michelle.
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Thanks for this list. They look likes books you could really get your teeth into:-)
Loving the HELLO STORY workshop Ali!! Can't wait for each new week to start that is how exciting it is:-) Each new week is like opening a new birthday present for me:-) Wonderful work!
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I agree with Jo Anne, I am soooo excited for Monday to come, like a gift by special delivery. I am feeling very happy, hopeful about moving forward with my memory keeping, which, except for PL has been stalled for a long time. Thanks
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i love the craft of writing a story ...it's so fun to make a memory come alive through words...i'll have to check out these books
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I highly reccomend Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose.
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YES! Bird by Bird has helped me a great deal with my dissertation.
I was going to recommend Annie's book too! Great read, very insightful.
Yes, I agree with Bird by Bird.
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Good list! I'd also suggest Ray Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing, nicely summarized here: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/ray-bradburys-7-rules-for-writers
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Thank you for the list. I too echo the thoughts above. I read, watch the videos and am inspired - love this workshop!! Thank you!
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Here are a few more that have been invaluable over the years in my career as a writer and journalist (and writing instructor):
-Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
-If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman
-Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
-and of course Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style"
I'll be checking out some of the ones you listed. Thanks!
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New years and a half year resolution --- do more journaling on my pages! (Translate -- do journaling to start with.) I've got 2 of the books requested on inter-library loan. Thanks for the encouragement.
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LOVE Writing Motherhood. I always open that one up when I'm looking for blogging or essay ideas. I also love Stephen King's book as well as Writing Down the Bones. In fact, yesterday I picked up Goldberg's The True Secret of Writing for grad school and am looking forward to digging into that one.
On a bit of a tangent - I am not really a scrapbooker, but I used to work in a scrapbook store years ago because I love paper and pens and that sort of thing. Your work always stuck out to me and I've flipped through the pages of Creating Keepsakes to check our your articles first. I understand now that it's not just your beautiful artwork and layouts that I love but it's the stories you cultivate as you capture these moments. I think that's what I'm trying to do when I'm writing.
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I highly recommend listening to Stephen King's book as narrated by King himself. LOVED it.
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I'm a writer and I fully endorse King's "On Writing". I'm very interested in reading "Writing Down the Bones". Thanks for the recommendation!
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So happy to see Stephen King made the list - love that book! Glad you liked it too! :)
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Thanks for sharing, Ali! I've been looking at borrowing some books from the library, so I might add one or 2 of these as well!
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Great list! I also love Annie Dillard's The Writing Life and just read Dani Shapiro's Still Writing, which comes out this fall, and was hugely moved by it.
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Will mark several of these books for after Hello Story finishes because I'm completely flowing with ideas & content already... just not scrappin' them yet. Also finding I'm writing the little stories on Project Life or similar little cards before even having the photos. And, just finished blog post answering "before I die" for tomorrow which was a fun way of using that prompt into something for now. All good things...
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Thanks for sharing these. Loving hello story too. Need to actually make a layout though. lol x
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Ali, this is my kind of book list! I love it!
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