6 Books That Will Take Your Novel Writing to the Next Level
By: Cara J. Stevens
Tags: Book Recommendations, Novel Writing, Writing, Fiction Writing, Creativity Tips

6 Books That Will Take Your Novel Writing to the Next Level

Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash

For many years, I’ve dreamed of attending a low-residence MFA program, but the cost is prohibitive and I can’t really commit to two or more years away from work to study a craft I’m already earning a living at.

When March 2020 hit, my freelance writing gigs ground to a halt. I had free time as far as the eye could see while everyone else in my family was busy at work or with school. It was the perfect time to dive into the craft of writing and get a formal education in what I had been learning by doing all these years.

I researched the best craft books that fit my needs and dove into them with an eye toward writing my own original stories. I’ve been writing for children since the early 90s, but I’ve been toying with women’s fiction, middle grade chapter books and picture books in the past few years and I want to learn the best way to get these stories out and bring them to life.

My mother once asked what made me want to be a writer. I told her it’s a way to quiet the voices in my head. I was only half-joking. Sometimes I think my mind is as filled with characters and situations as many people’s social lives. When I don’t write, it gets really crowded in there. And when I don’t write well, they tend to stage an uprising, messing with my sleep and dragging my attention away from real life conversations and things I should be doing.

So, with quarantine underway, I decided to undergo my own education in the craft of writing. I read some books on inspiration, others on craft, and others on structure to give me a solid foundation. Here’s a rundown of what I read, what I learned, and what I took away.

Photo courtesy of Cara J. Stevens

Letters to a Young Writer, by Colum McCann

Difficulty level: Beginner / easy / quick read

Colum McCann is a professor in the MFA Program at Hunter College in New York City. His book, Letters to a Young Writer, is the ideal place to start your own program, as it gives a solid 360° view of everything you ever or never wanted to know about the writing process from generating ideas to going on a book tour. It’s a solid primer that gives you the toolkit and vocabulary you should have as a foundation before embarking on any well-crafted program.

My biggest takeaway from Professor McCann is this: The most destructive force in your life is liable to be the unwritten story. If you don’t write, you’re not a writer.”

Photo courtesy of Cara J. Stevens

Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg

Difficulty level: Beginner / easy / read slowly and savor each night before bed

Natalie Goldberg’s iconic guide to freeing your creativity and releasing your inner writer invites readers to embrace the Zen of the creative process, finding a flow and rhythm through consistent practice. Watch. Listen. Do. Contemplate. Fill notebooks with everything you see, think, hear, taste, smell, and interact with. Try new things. Be open to new ways of finding that spark that lights your way to creativity.

My biggest takeaway from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones is this: Write everything that comes to mind, not just happy or clever things, but things that frighten or disturb you. Writing the difficult things is like doing heavy lifting. It may be rough going, but in the end it will make you stronger.

Photo courtesy of Dawn Husted

A Wordy Woman’s Guide to Writing a Book, by Dawn Husted

Difficulty level: Beginner / easy / keep on hand for reference

Dawn Husted is a YA writer. Her path to completing her first book was a challenge because she came into it unarmed. After eight years of writing and publishing books, Dawn has had an immersive on-the-job education on the first-timer’s path to publication. She wrote A Wordy Woman’s Guide to Writing a Book as a primer or lifejacket of sorts to support other newbies looking to embark on the same journey. The book is written in the style of a workbook, so you’re not just reading as you go, you’re playing along and filling in the blanks. This book has facts and figures like how many words and pages each type of book should have and how to figure out what genre your book is. It defines character, plot, setting, and all the basics, but it also has worksheets like an idea generator that guide you step by step as you embark on your first book.

My biggest takeaway from Dawn’s book is that no matter how long you’ve been writing, going back to the basics can really get you on track when you’re feeling lost. The worksheets alone are well worth the price of the book.

Video courtesy of YouTube

Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron

Difficulty level: Intermediate / challenging / keep a pen and paper handy

Every time I sit down to write an original story, I write furiously for half the book and suddenly get stuck midway through. Many times, I find myself reading a book and after a few chapters decide it’s not worth it. What makes us stop reading some books and keep going right til the end for others? According to Lisa Cron, it’s how our brains are wired. In her book, Wired for Story, Cron looks at the craft of storytelling through the lens of neuroscience — what makes us respond so viscerally to a story and how can we, as writers, trigger that response every time.

The book, for me, was a mind-blowing read. I took pages of notes as I devoured the book, hoping that the transcription was somehow etching the concepts into my brain.

My biggest takeaway from Wired for Story relates to structure: Start the story with balls already in play and create ticking clocks to create a sense of urgency. The story begins as soon as the timer starts. What happens next? That’s the plot. The second takeaway is about conflict: Conflict is the battle between fear and desire. The potential for conflict ripples through the story with mounting tension and gives urgency to everything that happens. That’s what keeps people reading.

Photo courtesy of Cara J. Stevens

Story Genius, by Lisa Cron

Difficulty level: Intermediate / challenging / use it as a workbook

The full title of the book spoke volumes to me: Story Genius: How to use brain science to go beyond outlining and write a riveting novel [*before you waste three years writing 327 pages that go nowhere]. Yeah, it’s a mouthful, but guess what? I wrote my first piece of contemporary fiction in three years. Number of pages: 335. And in the end, it’s gone nowhere. Story Genius takes the Wired for Story concepts and puts them into practice with concrete advice interspersed with exercises to elucidate the concepts and draw out your own story along the right path. I won’t lie… this book is hard work. I’m not through it yet, but so far, it feels worth it and I’m sticking with it no matter how long it takes me.

My biggest takeaway from Story Genius: “Outlining the plot before you develop your protagonist traps you on the surface of your novel — that is, in the external events that happen.” Ahhh, so that’s where I keep going wrong!

Photo courtesy of Jessica Brody

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody

Difficulty level: Intermediate / engaging / workbook that’s also packed with information

For aspiring writers, Fall 2020 was the season of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel although the book has been out since 2018. Once you have your story concept and characters down and you have a basic idea of what you want to happen in your book, head over to Jessica Brody’s website and pick up her book for a step-by-step tutorial on the 15 steps to writing a book. The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet lays out 15 plot points that are found in almost every successful novel ever written, according to the author — and she lays out a pretty convincing case for each point throughout the book. This secret code to storytelling will provide a structural scaffolding for your story so that when you finally sit down to write, all you’ll need to worry about is how you’ll fill in the blanks. After reading the book and taking copious notes, I signed up for the newsletter and downloaded the starter kit and considered myself well-armed to start writing.

My biggest takeaway from Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: Writing a novel is not rocket science. It’s not about reinventing a wheel or finding a story that no one has ever told before. It’s about telling a story — your story — in a way that builds tension and releases it and creates a great payoff at just the right time. (And if you’re wondering what the whole cat theme is about, you’ll have to read the book.)

Photo courtesy of Cara J. Stevens

Next on my bookshelf is Stephen King’s On Writing, A Memoir of the Craft, which I’ve heard no writer should miss, as well as my 15th annual re-read of Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke. Each time I read his letters, I take away something new and important and deeply personal.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the coming year’s reading will bring.