Recommended books on writing

  • The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
  • The Art of Writing and the Gifts of Writers, C. S. Lewis
  • Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
  • Damn Fine Story, Chuck Wendig
  • Elements of Writing Fiction: Beginnings, Middles & Ends, Nancy Kress
  • Elements of Writing Fiction: Characters & Viewpoint, Orson Scott Card
  • Elements of Writing Fiction: Conflict, Action & Suspense, William Noble
  • Elements of Writing Fiction: Scene & Structure, Jack M. Bickham
  • The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression, Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
  • The Emotional Craft of Fiction, Donald Maass
  • The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
  • Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, Les Edgerton
  • If You Want to Write, Brenda Ueland
  • Novelist’s Essential Guide to Creating Plot, J. Madison Davis
  • On Moral Fiction, John Gardner
  • On Writing by Stephen King
  • On Writing Well, William Zinsser
  • Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness, Kirt Hickman
  • Revision & Self-Editing: Techniques for Transforming Your First Draft Into a Finished Novel, James Scott Bell
  • Screenwriting Tricks For Authors, Alexandra Sokoloff
  • Secrets of Character, Matt Bird
  • Secrets of Story, Matt Bird
  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Browne & King
  • Stein on Writing, Sol Stein
  • The Story Grid, Shawn Coyne
  • The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
  • The Writing Life, Annie Dillard
  • Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell
  • Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury

Tools & Organizations

Workshops and Speaking Topics

  • The Importance of Story in Life and Work
  • It’s Never Too Late to Write Your Novel
  • How to Save Your Manuscript with the Story Grid
  • What’s Your Canoe? How to Identify Your Novel’s Achilles Heel(s)
  • How to Form or Join a Critique Group
  • How to Give and Take Artistic Criticism
  • Using Social Media to Sell More Books
  • Sell More Books with BookBub Ads
  • Facebook Ads for Authors
  • Building a Website for the Technophobic
  • How to Produce a Non-cheesy Book Trailer on the Cheap