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| Genres & Forms |
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How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
by Orson Scott Card
One of the first books on writing that I ever read (it was a gift), this was good enough to make me want to read a bunch more. The sections on story structure, idea generation, and creating the rules of a fictional universe were all valuable and eye-opening.
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The Writer's Guide to Creating a Science Fiction Universe
by George Ochoa & Jeffrey Osier
This is not a book of storytelling principles; it is about the scientific details of science fiction writing. If you care about getting those details right, you will find a tremendous depth of information in this book. It is far and away the best reference of its kind.
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Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
by Gardner Dozois, Stanley Schmidt, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, et al.
A collection of 20 articles by some of the foremost SF writers and editors. Many of these articles are forgettable or overly simplistic, but a few, particularly those by Dozois, Heinlein, and Schmidt, offer information sufficiently hard to find elsewhere that they are worth the price of the book.
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Writing Mysteries
edited by Sue Grafton
Divided into general topics (setting, characterization, generating plot ideas, how to write with—or without—an outline) and specific topics (planting clues, maintaining suspense, vivid villains, etc.), this is the best book I've seen on mystery writing.
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How to Write Romances
by Phyllis Taylor Pianka
I confess that I don't know a tremendous amount about writing romances. But this author provided everything I did need to know, and more. A good overview of the genre and its conventions.
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Writing the Thriller
by Trish Macdonald Skillman
The section on pacing and suspense is, of course, one of the most valuable sections of this book on thrillers. I also like the explication of the different categories of suspense fiction: legal thrillers, medical, political, psychological, romantic, women- or children-in-jeopardy, and techno-thrillers—and the expectations that audiences bring to each type.
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The Art and Craft of Playwriting
by Jeffrey Hatcher
Too many books on playwriting focus only on centuries-old plays, or only on modern plays. Hatcher, a successful modern playwright, discusses both, and illuminates the theatrical principles that are important to every dramatist. This is the one still-in-print book on playwriting that I recommend.
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The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing
edited by Frank Dickson & Sandra Smythe
Forty-two good articles on problems in short-story writing that nearly every writer faces at some point. Finding time to write, generating story ideas, vivid characterization, plotting, beginnings, middles, endings, flashbacks, revision, and more. Offers specific solutions to very specific problems.
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