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Honest reviews of writing craft books
book review
Aug 15, 2026
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4 min read
The book your writing group should read instead of The Artist's Way
Nov 28, 2021
2 min read
Percy offers detailed, distinctive clarifications of common craft advice.
Nov 21, 2021
3 min read
Pickens, a psychologist, explores roadblocks like time, work, money, fear, and isolation that commonly beset creatives.
Nov 14, 2021
Salesses investigates why and how writing craft rules work, and gives concrete suggestions for how we might think about them differently.
Nov 7, 2021
Trubek offers a behind-the-scenes tour of a small press.
Apr 30, 2021
Is this popular book worth your time? It depends on where you are in the writing process.
Dec 8, 2019
5 min read
Brooks Landon’s method for creating rich, complex sentences.
Dec 1, 2019
On Editing provides specific examples that will help you improve everything from your plot to your dialogue.
Nov 24, 2019
Sandra Scofield’s guide to revising your novel will teach you how to analyze your draft and improve it with detailed craft advice
Nov 17, 2019
Virginia Tufte’s collection of beautiful sentences and her explanations of how they work will teach you new tools to use in your own writing.
Nov 10, 2019
John Truby’s popular Anatomy of Story is a valuable encyclopedia of plot moves and character insights but may frustrate writers wanting to explore deeper territory.
Nov 3, 2019
Donald Maass offers specific examples of what sets breakout novels apart from others.
Oct 27, 2019
6 min read
The Way of the Writer is a book from a long-time writing instructor that is remarkably short on specific writing craft advice.
Oct 20, 2019
Jessica Morrell's exploration of common problems in fiction and how to solve them.
Oct 13, 2019
Advice, encouragement, and wisdom from a range of writers.
Oct 6, 2019
John Gardner’s Art of Fiction is misogynist and dated, but here are four pieces of wisdom worth retaining.
Sep 29, 2019
Stephen Pinker’s exploration of how good sentences work.
Sep 22, 2019
Advice and encouragement from Walter Mosley for authors facing a blank page.
Sep 15, 2019
Elizabeth George’s method for crafting characters, plots, and scenes.
Sep 8, 2019
Jack Bickham’s advice on how to harness the logic of cause-and-effect to create effective plots, characters, and scenes.
Sep 1, 2019
Advice and inspiration for doing deep, meaningful, difficult creative work.
Aug 25, 2019
Castellani’s in-depth, nuanced exploration of the foundational tool of point of view could transform the way you tell stories.
Aug 18, 2019
Francine Prose models how reading can help writers improve their craft.
Aug 11, 2019
June Casagrande’s advice for writers about how to craft clear, correct sentences.
Aug 4, 2019
Dean Wesley Smith’s method for how to write a novel without an outline.
