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10: Conclusion

  • Page ID
    226627
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    We’ve reached the end of our journey into the art of novel writing. I hope you have found the exploration beneficial.

    My goals have been to teach you a bit about novel writing and to give you the tools and know how to continue learning and exploring on your own.

    Learning how to learn about writing and the publishing industry and filling your toolbox are the best things you can take away from this book. I couldn’t possibly include every piece of knowledge about novel-writing on these pages. The book is intended as an introduction to novel writing. I am blessed to have many friends who are novelists, and even those who have been writing for decades admit they are still learning their craft.

    The learning process never ends.

    With that in mind, I want to share a list of craft books. Each semester that I teach novel writing, I offer this list to students, so that they may make a selection from it to read for their craft book project. Essentially, that project requires them to read a book about craft and then to develop a project to share the book’s key takeaways for their classmates.

    While I admit that there are many other books that could be included on the list, it offers solid suggestions. I want to challenge you to follow this text with another book on craft - this time of your choice.

    When you finish that book, choose another from the list.

    And so on.

    Continue learning about writing. Continue reading books in your genre and age category but in others as well.

    And, of course, continue writing.

    "Chapter 10: Conclusion" was created by Tamara Girardi and was licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 in October of 2023.

    Books on the Writing Craft

    The Anatomy of Story, by John Truby

    The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner

    Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande

    Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott

    The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White

    The Emotional Craft of Fiction, by Donald Maass

    The First Five Pages, by Noah Lukeman

    Getting into Character, by Brandilyn Collins

    Hooked, by Les Edgerton

    How to Write a Damn Good Novel, by James N. Frey

    How to Write Bestselling Fiction, by Dean Koontz

    On Becoming a Novelist, by John Gardner

    On Writing, by Stephen King

    On Writing Well, by William Zinsser

    Plot & Structure, by James Scott Bell

    Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose

    Romancing the Beat, by Gwen Hayes

    Save the Cat Writes a Novel, by Jessica Brody

    Steering the Craft, by Ursula LeGuin

    Story, by Robert McKee

    Story Genius, by Lisa Cron

    Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron

    Wonderbook, by Jeff VanderMeer

    The Writer’s Journey, by Christopher Vogler

    Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg

    The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard

    The Writing Life: Writers on How they Think and Work, by Maria Arana

    Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maass

    Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury


    10: Conclusion is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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