This "writing library" contains books I have in my own library. It's my virtual library, and I've included the various books on writing craft that I've found most useful as a writer. I own many, many more, but these are the ones I found most helpful.

I've linked most of these titles to amazon.ca so they will be easy to access and evaluate. Also, if you choose to buy any of them from here, I earn a small commission—about $1.50 per book—so we help each other. If you're anything like me, you'll want more books than you can afford, so here's one way to save a bit:

Money Saving Tip: As an alternative to buying print copies of everything, build your writing library with audible books. You can join audible.com for a trial period of three months for $7.50 a month. You get one book credit per month, and you can buy whatever book you want with that credit, so use it to buy the book that would be most expensive elsewhere. Next month you can buy another audiobook for $7.50. You can do that for three months before you have to decide if you want to keep the subscription.

Download an audiobook for $7.49 and save 50% for your first 3 months. Choose from over 75,000 titles.

Another way to do this is to join up for a two-week subscription and get one audiobook completely free. If you choose this option, remember that you only have two weeks to keep or reject the membership. I've written more about this HERE.

In this electronic era, no writing library would be complete without a number of the online classics, and you can read or download free almost every classic ever written HERE.

It's an exciting time to be a writer. I can remember when I lugged heavy reference books with me when I traveled, and when every fact I wrote meant a trip or call to the library. There is still nothing like going to the library, but bookmarks in your favorite browser save hours of research time.

I use the online tools so often that I tend to think everyone is aware of them, but I've learned that some sites aren't as well known as one would think, so I've also created a writing resources page, where you will find numerous helpful resources.

Books on Writing Craft

To start, the books below are those I found most useful as I learned the craft of writing, and the ones I most often recommend. My top recommendation is Sol Stein's book Stein on Writing, and if you like my idea above, you can get that as a free audiobook HERE.

1. Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares by Sol Stein
2. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King
3. Weekend Novelist, the: Learn to Write a Novel in 52 Weeks by Robert J. Ray & Brett Norris
4. Reading Like A Writer by Francine Prose
5. Elements of Writing Fiction - Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham
6. Story by Robert McKee
7. The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
8. The Power Of Point Of View: Make Your Story Come To Life by Alicia Rasley.
9. Make A Scene Crafting A Powerful Story One Scene At A Time by Jordan E. Rosenfeld
10. Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley.
11. The Writer's Digest Writing Clinic: Expert Help for Improving Your Work
12. Novelists Essential Guide to Creating Plot
13. Novelists Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes

And many more to come ...

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