For other posts with recommended books, see: Six Terrific Books About Decision Making by Non-psychologists My favorite books written in the last two years or so Eight recommended books about good and evil Writing is difficult and stressful. I’d much rather read books about writing.
Thank you for these recommendations. Reluctant writers, harried academics, and those who struggle with time management problems might also benefit from the work of Robert Boice ("Professors as Writers," etc). Although his writing doesn't have the same sentence-by-sentence charm, he sometimes strikes me as a forerunner of the great Oliver Burkeman.
No Strunk & White? Some of the material on usage is perhaps dated, but the actual writing advice is fantastic, and it's difficult to think of anything else to add.
I'm not usually one for reading about writing, but these recommendations sound really interesting. Thanks for sharing. Going to explore some of this stuff
Came to the comments to yell that On Writing should be here, saw that it was as I scrolled down, and am now interested in checking out the other three.
And relistening to On Writing, which I am due for :-)
Have read Pinker-which I loved, especially for the appendix, which I often recommend to students! - and the King. Which is great regardless of the writing you do. As I teach academic writing, I think I'm going to try out the second one on the list. Thanks!
Have you read Verlyn Klinkenborg's A Few Short Sentences About Writing? Short and sweet and makes one and only one point: most of us write sentences that are too long and get in the way of clarity. He teaches creative writing at Yale, which you may or may not know!
Thank you so much for these recommendations. I’ve read and enjoyed King’s book but not the others. I’ve googled Sarnecka because being Polish-British, I’m always intrigued by an author with a Polish surname, and discovered she wrote a blog about writing, which is useful.
Assigned readings in a course I teach to PhD econ students include the book by Sarnecka and Pinker's chapter on the curse of knowledge. I also vouch for the book by Thomas and Turner. I haven't yet read the Stephen King book, but now I surely will after seeing it among the other 3 of my favorites on this list. You might also consider "Economical Writing" by Dierdre McCloskey, which was the first book on scholarly writing that grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me to say, "You can do better!"
Thanks so much for sharing these recommendations. I often find myself procrastinating reading or writing by reading book lists and searching for more titles to add to my “must read” stack. What is it about reading about a craft that feels so satisfying?
If you want to write fiction:
Pity the Reader by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell
Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk
Thank you for these recommendations. Reluctant writers, harried academics, and those who struggle with time management problems might also benefit from the work of Robert Boice ("Professors as Writers," etc). Although his writing doesn't have the same sentence-by-sentence charm, he sometimes strikes me as a forerunner of the great Oliver Burkeman.
Here are two other books that I think are fantastic, particularly for beginning writers:
"Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing", by Patricia T. O'Conner
"Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English", also by Patricia T. O'Conner
No Strunk & White? Some of the material on usage is perhaps dated, but the actual writing advice is fantastic, and it's difficult to think of anything else to add.
Exactly right! I return to that final chapter of writing advice by White often. It’s so good!
And if you really want to treat yourself, get the Strunk, White and Kalman edition - the paintings by Maira Kalman make the whole book a work of art.
For academics and others: Economical Writing by Deirdre McCloskey. Brilliant.
Great list with some I haven’t read. I’d add ‘on writing well’ by William zinsser - book I keep returning to for timeless writing wisdom.
I'm not usually one for reading about writing, but these recommendations sound really interesting. Thanks for sharing. Going to explore some of this stuff
Came to the comments to yell that On Writing should be here, saw that it was as I scrolled down, and am now interested in checking out the other three.
And relistening to On Writing, which I am due for :-)
Have read Pinker-which I loved, especially for the appendix, which I often recommend to students! - and the King. Which is great regardless of the writing you do. As I teach academic writing, I think I'm going to try out the second one on the list. Thanks!
Have you read Verlyn Klinkenborg's A Few Short Sentences About Writing? Short and sweet and makes one and only one point: most of us write sentences that are too long and get in the way of clarity. He teaches creative writing at Yale, which you may or may not know!
Thank you so much for these recommendations. I’ve read and enjoyed King’s book but not the others. I’ve googled Sarnecka because being Polish-British, I’m always intrigued by an author with a Polish surname, and discovered she wrote a blog about writing, which is useful.
Assigned readings in a course I teach to PhD econ students include the book by Sarnecka and Pinker's chapter on the curse of knowledge. I also vouch for the book by Thomas and Turner. I haven't yet read the Stephen King book, but now I surely will after seeing it among the other 3 of my favorites on this list. You might also consider "Economical Writing" by Dierdre McCloskey, which was the first book on scholarly writing that grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me to say, "You can do better!"
Thank you for all of these recommendations. I really enjoy your Substack and find that I'm learning from it in ways that I did not anticipate.
Another book of interest: Verlyn Klinkenborg's "Several Short Sentences About Writing."
I don’t think anyone has mentioned Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird so far, which I also enjoyed.
Thanks so much for sharing these recommendations. I often find myself procrastinating reading or writing by reading book lists and searching for more titles to add to my “must read” stack. What is it about reading about a craft that feels so satisfying?