Episode Thirty-Five: My Top 10 Craft Book Recommendations for Writers - Part 2

Written By Olivia Bedford
My Top 10 Craft Book Recommendations for Writers - Part 2
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Writing craft books have been an essential part of my education as a writer & editor. In this episode, I’m sharing the final 5 books in my top 10 craft books for aspiring fiction writers. 

Have a craft book recommendation to share? Hit me up in the DMs - I’m @oliviahelpswriters on Instagram!

Here are the resources mentioned in this show - please note, this list contains affiliate links:

Don’t miss my summer workshop series!

Seeing this from the future? You can still purchase the recordings with the links above!

Thanks for listening, keep writing, and keep getting better one word at a time!


You can listen in your favorite podcast player here.

Watch on YouTube here.

Thanks for listening, keep writing, and keep getting better one word at a time!

Transcript

Please note: This transcript was automatically generated and has not been edited.

Olivia (00:00)

If you're anything like me, you grew up.

Reading fiction all the time. And you probably thought that because you're a reader, writing your own books was going to be easy. And if you're anything like me, once again, you discovered that it's actually so much harder to write a book because there is so much happening beneath the surface that you're just not aware of as a reader.

One of the best ways that I have found to uncover that hidden world of what's happening beneath the surface of your books is by reading nonfiction books for writers, also known as writing craft books. I know that not everyone loves them, and that is totally fine. It is not the best vehicle for learning for everyone, but I do think that those books are uniquely suited to giving us a foundation and uncovering what's really happening beneath the surface of the stories we read so we can make that super difficult transition from reader to writer. And this week I am sharing the next five books in my top ten craft books for writers. Let's get started.

Welcome to episode 35 of the Better Writer Podcast. I actually could not believe that we were at 35 episodes. I had to go and check to make sure that I had the right number, but here we are, 35 episodes later, and I am so excited to keep talking about my favorite writing craft books. Last week I shared a little bit about my journey and how craft books have been an essential part of my learning as both a writer and editor. And this episode is picking up right where that episode left off with the next five books. So if you didn't listen.

To last week's episode, episode 34. Make sure you start there. Then come listen to this one to finish it off.

Now, before I forget, because I did forget to mention this last week, I am running a series of workshops this summer. I'm calling them the summer workshop series. Super creative, I know. And I am covering three topics that I think are super important, but not always fully appreciated when it comes writing and revising. First up is the revision mindset workshop. That is actually happening today. If you are listening to this in real time, that is happening August 4th at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. If you missed it, don't worry, you can get the recording still. Next week, August 11th, again at 4:30, I'm going to be talking about genre expectations and more specifically, how do you actually research your genre so that you know what the expectations are. This is going to be hands-on, you were going to do that research.

in the moment. so it's gonna be really fun and you are going to be able to use Amazon and Goodreads as tools to figure out what your specific readers want from you. And we are going to get more specific than just like romance readers want a happy ending. It's like okay duh, everyone knows that. But

What do mafia romance readers want versus historical romance readers? You are going to get super nitty-gritty about your genre, looking at reader reviews as a tool for mining genre expectations and figuring out what you need to do as a writer to deliver on the promises that you are making your readers. So it is going to be hands-on. We're gonna do the work in the moment. and I would love to see you there next week, August 11th, 4:30 p.m. Again, if you're listening to this from the future, you will be able to get the recording. So it is not too late, no matter when you're

listening to this episode. And then finally on August 18th, also 4 30 p.m. We are going to be talking about ideal readers. And you are going to be constructing a profile for your ideal readers. I've mentioned before that I am not a person who believes in choosing one ideal reader. So like we're not going to be creating a profile like some imaginary woman named Susan who you think is reading your books. But you are going to figure out who are your target readers based on a few demographic categories, based on

different aspects of their lives that are relevant to your story. And it's not just going to be, you know, how old they are or where they live or anything like that. We are going beyond the basics and talking about some of the psychological factors or life factors that are going to make your book a fit or not. And that is going to be so helpful in both revising your story to make sure it works for those readers. But then also when it comes time to market, you'll know who you're speaking to and that is so valuable.

So, three workshops over three weeks. You can sign up for one workshop if you're just interested in one of those topics, or you can bundle all three. The individual workshops are $49 each, or you can get all three of them for $97. So that is going to save you a bit of money. So if any of those topics are relevant to you, or if all of them are relevant to you, I would love to see you either in the live workshops if you're listening to this in real time, or you can always buy the recording later and you are going to get all the same goodness just pre-recorded. And of course, you could reach

out to me with questions after the fact if you needed to. So sign up for those workshops. They're gonna be a lot of fun. I am trying to get back into more live teaching because it has been so much fun in Reader Ready Revisions and

I think pre-recorded classes that are completely pre-recorded are great. but there is something special that happens when you are on live with people, or even if you are watching a recording of a live event where you still get to hear people's questions in the moment, because I'm always the person who I never come up with my own questions, but I learn so much from other people's.

So I will include all of those links in the show notes. And I really hope to see you there or see you later on in the recording if you are listening to this podcast from the future. Alright,

without further ado it is time for the final five craft books in my top ten

we are going to start with the only one of these books that I do not have a physical copy of. So I'm holding up my tablet to the screen for anyone who's not watching on YouTube. it's a little bit blurred, I think, because of just how my camera is set. But the book that I'm holding up on my tablet is Seven Figure Fiction by T Taylor. And the subtitle is How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell Your Books to Anyone.

And I love this book. Even though I am definitely, you know, someone who I will never make promises about how much money you're going to make as a writer. I have never presented myself as the editor who is going to help you be a bestseller or help you reach a certain income goal. I am very much of the mind that the primary goal is to make our books work for readers, because quite honestly.

Becoming a bestseller is not just a question of craft. There are so many other factors: marketing, timing, a little bit of luck, and it's not something that I can ever promise as an editor. But despite

The title and the subtitle really focusing on sales and numbers and making money. This is a craft book. It is about the craft of making your book irresistible to readers, which is going to make you money if you are trying to sell books. That you know, the easier it is to sell to someone, the better off you are going to be. And what this book is really about is figuring out.

how to delight your readers, which is what I talk about all the time. And

Taylor's concept is called butter, and it's basically incorporating things that are going to make your story delicious, whether that is specific tropes or specific moments, or just characterization elements that make people fall in love with the story and with the characters. So it is an excellent book. It is super short, super impactful. And there are now other books in the series as well. So she'll go through specific aspects of different genres that make them buttery for readers. I also

Also, I love butter, I love baking, so I just love that that is the metaphor here.

so it's just, you know, I was already sold already just with that, with that, with that concept. But I think that, you know, even if you are someone who is not becoming a writer to make a bunch of money, if that seven figure goal does not resonate with you at all, that is totally fine. This book really is not about selling.

Your book. It's about making sure that you are putting things in your story that are going to delight readers so that they want to buy your story. And that is going to be relevant whether your goal is to make seven figures from your books or just one figure from your book. If you are doing this just for personal reasons, I think it's still relevant because if your goal is publication at all.

You are publishing for readers. You're publishing to readers and we need to know how to make them happy. That is what I talk about all the time. That's why my course is called Reader Ready Revisions. It's all about getting your book ready for readers and making sure that they love it when you're done. So seven figure fiction, which is not a book about selling books. It is a book about making sure your book is delightful so that people want to buy it and so that it is easier to sell. Because ultimately, if you're publishing, that's the goal.

All right, next up we have DIY MFA by Gabriella Pereira. And you have probably heard her name. You've probably seen her at summits or conferences or elsewhere. she runs the DIY MFA podcast, which was wonderful. and now I'm questioning myself, I don't actually know if it's called the DIY MFA podcast, but there's a whole ecosystem of courses and her website and everything else with resources for writers. And this is an excellent book. And I read it.

toward the beginning of my writing journey and I think it is a perfect book for beginners because

This book is going to introduce you to a lot of craft elements. It's going to introduce you to the process of being a writer. And it's going to introduce you to the process of learning as a writer. And I think that is so important. because she is not just talking about writing, she's talking about writing and reading and building a community of people that you can work with. That is on the cover, if you can see on YouTube, those are the three pillars that she teaches: is your writing.

with a focus on practicing and building skills, you are reading both in your genre, in craft books, et cetera, to learn. And then you're also connecting with other people. And all of those parts of the writing process are essential. Even if they don't feel like writing, you need to read in your genre. And I I am not trying to shame anyone who has a busy life. I get it. I was writing while also teaching full-time. I used to coach cheer. I literally used to work

12 plus hour days. And I think people don't always remember that teachers do that sometimes, especially when you're coaching a sport. It's ridiculous. I don't have kids, I will say that. That is not a part of you know what makes my life busy, but it you cannot write effectively in a genre that you do not understand, and

Having read widely in your genre is not the same as reading widely in your genre now because things change. And I've mentioned this before that, you know, when you're querying, agents want your comp titles to be no more than three maybe max five years. And that to me, I mean, it feels so limiting because that's in the lifespan of a book that is not a ton of time,

And it is not easy to keep constantly reading new books in genres. Thank goodness we have ebooks now, so it can be a lot cheaper than it used to be. Not always, but

It just it is important to know your genre and there really is no way around that. We can learn from reading books in our genre, we can learn from reading craft books. there's a lot of work that goes into being a writer, and I don't say that to scare anyone. I think there are always ways to make it more efficient and more effective for ourselves, but you do need to do these things. You do need to practice writing, you do need to read in your genre, you do need to find ways of learning. It doesn't have to be, you know, strictly reading with your eyes. It could be audiobooks, it be a lot of things. but those things need to happen.

And I think this book is a great introduction. So if you are out there, you are a beginner, you are just finding your footing in the world of writing. I think DIY MFA is a great place to start because it's not just a book about writing, it's a book about how to become a writer, which I think is super important. So DIY MFA, great for beginners, highly recommend.

Alright, next up we have Intuitive Editing by Tiffany Yates Martin. again, at least from what I'm seeing, the cover is blurry in the video. I think it's just the video settings are focused on me as the human, and I don't actually know how to change that at the moment. So my apologies if you're watching on YouTube and everything is blurred. but again, the book is called Intuitive Editing: a Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Fiction. The author is Tiffany Yates Martin, who is both a writer and an editor like me.

and I think it's just a wonderful guide to the process of revising and editing your work. There are a lot of great

exercises. She's going to guide you from the process of going from high-level revision elements to those lower level, or not lower level, but just more detail-focused line editing elements as well. And she gives you a process, which is great. I will say, I read this book with a

Book club that I was in that basically we read craft books. and someone described it as drinking from a fire hose. It is a little bit overwhelming. So I think this might be a book that is best for someone who's more advanced, or maybe I love this book because I am an editor and this, you know, I was reading it as I was becoming an editor.

Some of the things that I read in this book have made their way into my course. you'll definitely see, you know.

she talks about reverse outlining. I don't think she's the first person that I learned reverse outlining from, but she talks about she calls that an x-ray outline. So there definitely is some overlap between what I teach and what's in this book. And so that might be why I love it, is because you know, I'm coming to it as an editor. It might be more overwhelming if you are a writer and you are guiding your own revision process, which is why I think it can be so helpful to have a coach, someone guiding you, making the process a little bit more accessible. but I think it is a great book that really is comprehensive.

It is a fairly, fairly thick book. You can see all my post-it notes if you're here on YouTube. but it is a great resource if you are DIYing your revisions, and it is going to take you through an intensive process of really evaluating every aspect of your story, which is the work that we need to do in revision and editing. Like I said, it can be a little bit overwhelming, so you definitely want to pace yourself, but it is a great guide to have on hand. Definitely would recommend.

Alright, next up, this is one that I need to give credit where credit is due, and that is why this book is included, but I have mixed feelings about it. and the book is Story Genius by Lisa Cron. again, the cover is blurry, but Story Genius by Lisa Cron. The subtitle is How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel. And the reason why I'm recommending this book is because

Her approach to storytelling is very unique. I found it very helpful in my own process, especially for developing characters. And I think the way that she teaches writers to think about character is very valuable. That it's going beyond the character bio and all those things to really think about the character's psychological makeup.

What is guiding them in the story. And I think for me that was very much a game-changing idea, which is why this book is included. And you know, the way she teaches you to develop characters and develop your story around characters, very valuable. The caveat that I will give is that she has a very aggressive style. And I

I I I want to be careful here because I think sometimes women can be labeled as aggressive when they are just being assertive and, you know, standing by their ideas. I don't think that's the case here. for an example, you can go listen to the interview that Lisa Cron did with Sacha Black on the Rebel Author podcast. Aggressive is the only word to really describe

that interaction. Her style comes across as very aggressive. So when I recommend this book, I recommend chapters five through seven. And I'm gonna double check that that's actually the chapters that I'm recommending here. yes, I really recommend chapters five through seven. Everything else can be helpful as well, but but.

She is going to tell you that you have to write a certain way and that you have to outline and that you have to follow her method. And basically, she says that everyone else in the writing world who doesn't follow her exact process is an idiot. Like I said, it's aggressive. And that's just not true. It's just not true.

Factually, anyone who tells you that there is one way to write a book is lying or ignorant because there is someone else who has successfully written a book not following that process. Because, once again, let's see, this book was published in 2016 and

There were books published before 2016. So, you know, if this is the only way, then then that is interesting to me that anything was ever published before the year 2016 that was successful. And I can think of a few books published before 2016 that did really well and are great. So this is not the only way to write a book. Her process is not the only way to write a book. There are helpful tools in here, which is why I'm recommending it with a very heavy asterisk that

Yeah, there are really helpful tools in here for developing characters, for developing a story, but this is not the only way to write a book. You do not have to outline to be successful. I used all of her exercises after writing my first draft. Would probably drive her crazy. I don't care. It's my book, it's my writing process. I did that character work after the fact and

World didn't explode. So I do recommend some aspects of Story Genius, especially if you are having a hard time figuring out your character arcs or your character's backstory. but I do not, do not, do not, do not recommend most of what else is in there. So again, there are helpful tools in terms of understanding how your stories affect other people and how the brain science of storytelling works. All great stuff. I wholeheartedly reject the premise that you must outline.

to have that effect on people. So

that was my soapbox moment. again, I do recommend parts of this book, but with that with very heavy asterisk on it. And you can tell probably from just the way that I'm talking that I have some mixed feelings. Again, credit where credit is due. It is a helpful book, but it's I just approach people.

and teaching in a very different way that I hope is more welcoming to to everyone. So that's the last thing I'm gonna say on that topic. Okay. All right, final book in the top 10, one that I've recommended countless times to writers, including just yesterday on a call with someone, The Emotion

Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman. I am so confident that you have heard of this book. but in case you haven't, let me change your life. this book is a thesaurus of emotions. So if you open it up, this is super blurry. But if you're sorry, I was probably blocking the microphone just then. this is super blurry, but when you open up the book, it's going to have emotions.

And then it's going to have all of the physical sensations associated with that emotion, both externally, things that we would see, and internally what we would feel if we were experiencing them. And as a writer, we know that one of the hardest things to do is to add in those descriptions, to add interiority and visceral reactions that are going to make our story come to life. This book is your best friend. If you have had characters shrug or roll their eyes.

10 million times in a row, you can come in here, figure out the emotion of the scene, and then explore other options. And that is going to be your ticket to deepening the gestures that you're using, to deepening the emotion that you're conveying, all of those things. It's super helpful. I recommend

having it on hand as you line edit. This is not

a tool for developmental revisions. This is a tool for fine-tuning your descriptions, strengthening what's happening around your dialogue. All of those things that are happening at the line level.

Have this book out on your desk the whole time. And then when you run into a description that is vague or falling flat, or when you realize that your characters have done the same gesture 10 million times in a row, or you realize that your readers have no idea what your first person narrator is feeling or thinking, pull out this book and figure out what gestures or internal sensations are going to match your scene.

Now, the thing that you have to be careful about is that this book is not meant for you to lift directly from and put into your manuscript. And I'm gonna give an example. okay, so for the emotion of disillusionment,

one of the physical signs of disillusionment is it says cocking the head and displaying a fixed look as one wrestles with a sudden discovery. What I don't want to see is a sentence that says Johnny cocked his head and displayed a fixed look as he wrestled with the discovery. No, no, no. That is not what we're going to do at all. Instead,

What you might say in the book that's going to sound more natural is Johnny tilted his head and stared past me. I could see the gears turning in his mind as he weighed da da da. Whatever the actual discovery is.

Now that is just my very simple example. I think the gears turning is probably a cliche. So we can do better. But the key is you have to make it specific to your characters and their voice. So if your character is not gonna say they cocked their head, then don't say it. And in a lot of situations that might not sound natural to what's going on. you could also ignore the head part and you just say, Johnny stared at the portrait on the wall, but it didn't seem he could even see

Anything. And then you know, maybe we don't need to actually say anything about the discovery. the discovery has already been put on the page, so readers will know what the character is reacting to. Again, I'm just making these examples up as we go. but the key here is that this is an idea, this is a suggestion, and then you need to make it

work for your story, you need to fit it into your scene in or an organic way. The other thing to keep in mind is that less is more. We do not want to see a long string of gestures pulled from these pages. So again, if we're going with the disillusionment, you know, some of the things that you could choose are holding one's head in one's hands, looking at the source of the information then away and then back in utter disbelief, uttering no or it can't be.

arms wrapping around oneself in a soothing self-soothing manner. what we don't want is Johnny put his head in his hands, then looked at me, then looked away, then said, no, it can't be, and then wrapped his arms around himself. We don't want that string of things. All of those things could happen in the context of a scene if this is like a really big discovery or something like that. But we don't want to string them together. And I mean literally like one after another separated by commas. We don't want a string of gestures all together.

It needs to feel natural. And so when you are using this as a resource, this is just a starting point. Just a starting point. It is not a gesture that you can just plop into your manuscript and say, okay, great, we check the box of a gesture. it it needs to feel organic.

And that is going to mean translating this into what would your characters actually observe, what would they hear, what would they see, or if it's something internal, what would they feel? How would they process that in their own minds? And then you translate that into their voice, into the voice of the narrative. You have more of a distant narration. but either way, you are making it fit your story, not just plop

Here's a gesture, that's it. And definitely not a string of gestures. So you do need to be careful that you are using this tool effectively, but it's great. I mean, there are so many emotions in here. really covers any situation that you might have your characters in. this book is part of a larger series. They also have books on character wounds, character flauses you could have. There's a source of occupations and the different things to keep in mind for that. So

Great, great resources. They also have a website that gives you a digital access to all of the entries across all of their books. So definitely recommend as a tool. Again, this is the emotion thesaurus. This is the one that I have on hand that I use all the time. I think I also have the conflict thesaurus, maybe, that I may or may not have taken with me when I left my old school. Don't tell anyone about that. But anyway, yeah, so.

The emotion thesaurus, Becca Puglisi, Angela Ackerman, definitely check this out. It is a great resource. All of the resources they offer are excellent. So if you are someone who has ever struggled with how to describe an emotion or an emotional experience, this book is going to help you. Then you need to apply your creative brain to make sure that you're actually making it fit your story. But it is a wonderful starting point.

Alright, and with that, we have reached the end of my top 10 craft books. maybe in a couple years I'll come back and do this again because I am always reading craft books, always discovering new favorites. I have one right now that I'm not done with, which is why I was like, well, I can't

Right now I'm reading page one to done by Jessica Brody, who also wrote the Save the Cat Writes a Novel books. There's the regular Save the Cat Writes novel and then Save the Cat writes a young adult novel. Both also excellent. Not in my top 10, because they're just not because there's so many wonderful books out there. But those books are also great, especially if you are just starting out. but again, I'm always reading new craft books. So maybe I'll come back with another episode with more recommendations for you at another point. But

Thank you so much for listening to this episode. And once again, if you are interested in learning more from me, if you like the way that I talk about writing, if you want to get hands-on and actually go into the tactics of how to prepare yourself to revise from a mindset lens, how to figure out the actual expectations for your genre, or how to figure out who you are writing for. I am running three workshops over three weeks. You can buy the whole bundle for $97 and learn from me how to get ready to revise your story.

All of the information is going to be linked in the show notes. Thank you once again for listening to another episode, for spending time out of your day with me. And if this episode was helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend. I would love to reach as many writers as possible. All right. Thank you again for listening. Keep writing, keep getting better, one word at a time. See ya.

Olivia Bedford

Olivia Bedford is a developmental editor, writer, and educator. She loves all things fantastical—whether that’s world-shaking epic fantasy, sweeping historical fiction, or heart-melting romance. Her greatest love is helping writers discover their voices and make their work the best it can be.

https://oliviahelpswriters.com
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Episode Thirty-Four: My Top 10 Craft Book Recommendations for Writers - Part 1