What to read: Instead of craft books
Let me explain why.
Hello and happy Humpday!
Last week I got a nice request from a subscriber to do “craft book” reading recommendations. Her question was an innocent and kind one, but it sent me into a spiral of guilt and confusion.
Am I a bad writer for not reading craft books?
Am I a bad newsletter writer for not forcing myself to read craft books so I can recommend them?
But then I gave a little think to what my mission is1 and also to my background. I don’t have an MFA. I went to college, but I studied Comparative Literature and French Translation there, not English. I did exactly one writing workshop freshman year (1997) which ruined my appetite for creative writing for many years thereafter. I didn’t participate in another workshop until 2011 (Tin House and Breadloaf).
Accordingly, when I was a student, craft books weren’t assigned to me. For my major, I had to read a lot of semiotic texts and literary theory and philosophy and translation. None of my peers were reading craft books—further reducing my exposure to them. I knew that craft books existed, in the way that I knew that luxury long-distance passenger train services existed. But the concept just felt kind of…floofy? Like, why would you read a writer writing about writing when you could watch an author storytell right there on the page? And annotate and photocopy and cut out and dissect and figure out—on your own terms—how they were doing what they were doing and how you could do it your way?
Long story short: I didn’t come up reading craft books. I came up reading books.
To this day, I firmly believe that reading books written in the genre you want to write is the best way to improve your writing. Craft books can inspire you and make you feel less alone in the process of art-making (they are great for that!), but if you want to improve your writing on the line level, I think you need to watch and learn how other people do it on the page. (I.e., read.) And then you need to try it. (I.e., write.)
You’ll have months or years of writing embarrassingly using my read-to-learn technique: bad drafts, messy drafts, hell holes of bad words, words that sound like someone else wrote them (don’t publish those). But eventually, if you read enough book-books (instead of, or in addition to craft books), you’ll absorb best practices almost by osmosis and you’ll start writing better yourself.
I’d love to share some of the titles that have personally taught me to write better in a given genre. Ready?
Read these novels to write better novels:
If you are trying to write a novel with multiple POVs: Liane Moriarty’s “Nine Perfect Strangers”
Novel with a seriously unreliable narrator: “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” by Iain Reid
Sprawling family epic: “Memphis” by Tara M. Stringfellow or “The Great Offshore Grounds” by Vanessa Vaselka. For a different and more poetic way to structure this kind of book, “Red at the Bone” by Jacqueline Woodson
Voicey, bombastic fiction with steroid energy: “Bonfire of the Vanities” by Tom Wolfe or “To Rise Again at a Decent Hour” by Joshua Ferris
When setting is a main character: “Mexican Gothic” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A novel that plays with form and structure in an ingenious way: “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu2
Read these memoirs to write better memoir:
Chronological memoir: “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls or “Educated” by Tara Westover
Experimental memoir: “The Argonauts” by Maggie Nelson
Memoir that jumps around in time: “Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls” by T Kira Madden
Autobiographical memoir: “I love you but I’ve chosen darkness” by Claire Vaye Watkins
Memoirs by someone whose life is filled with intrigue, travel, beautiful rich people, tons of gossip, that reads like a tell-all: “The Vanity Fair Diaries” by Tina Brown
A memoir when you are on the fence about whether or not your parents were/are good people: “Them: A Memoir of Parents” by Francine du Plessix Gray
Collections:
Memoir in essays: “Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing” by Lauren Hough
Short stories linked by theme: “Fuckface” by Leah Hampton, “Her Body and Other Stories” by Carmen Maria Machado, “Heartbroke” by Chelsea Bieker or any short story collection by Laura van den Berg
Novel in stories: “Making Nice” by Matt Sumell
Humorous essay collection: “Bad Vibes Only” by Nora McInerny or anything by Samantha Irby
How to make the vignette form work without driving readers crazy:
Novel example: “Goodbye Vitamin” by Rachel Khong or “Department of Speculation” by Jenny Offill
Memoir example: “Bluets” by Maggie Nelson or “100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write” by Sarah Ruhl
To make this method of reading-to-improve-craft work, you need to know how to read actively toward the goal of improving your own writing. Which I’ll tackle in another newsletter.
But back to the subject of craft books, before you go about your respective days. When I am really stuck in a project (usually a novel) I turn to screenwriting manuals. I like screenwriting books because they are pragmatic, prescriptive, and no-nonsense. They are free of flowery language, they don’t pull any punches. That’s how I like my advice. (It’s also the advice I like to give.) My favorites in this genre are John Truby’s “The Anatomy of Story” and Syd Field’s “Screenplay.” Both these books use outdated language and basically forget that women exist in the world—a little head’s up about that.
What I do read, and read frequently, and also write, are books about the industry. It just so happened that agent Carly Watters posted her favorite titles in this genre to Instagram this week— you can read the whole post here. (Thank you, Carly, for including BEFORE AND AFTER!) Of the below, I’ve read “Craft in the Real World” which is a necessary and ultra smart read from one of the kindest writers out there, Matthew Salesses.
I’d also like to give a shout out to Matt Bell’s “Refuse to be Done” which is a revision-focused craft book that works you like a masochistic personal trainer: the rare craft book that is super pragmatic and focused on accountability and output, both. It’s so practical, I think they should sell it at the hardware store. Right next to the axes.
What about you? What are the craft books you can’t live without? The industry books you like? Books about screenwriting? What are you using to write this fall?
Tell us in the comments.
Melissa Broder is running an experimental Zoom class Nov. 6th. One of my favorite authors, Melissa Broder, is doing something of an experimental Zoom for only $10 per person on Sunday Nov. 6th, 3pm-6pm ET. Email eatingaloneinmycar@gmail.com for more info!
The Cabins’ DIY group retreat is open for applications for just one more month. In a nutshell: my nonprofit learning collaborative, The Cabins, is giving a beautiful 4 bedroom cabin to up to four people for 10 days, free, to create and dream in. Visit thecabinsretreat.com for more information and to apply.
In the coming weeks, I’m planning posts on writing loglines (with live critiques of subscriber loglines) and one on how to create a beat sheet to revise unruly work. If you’d like to upgrade your subscription to paid so you can receive these posts, or just feel like supporting the work I do to make publishing and the business (and craft!) of writing more transparent, you can do so below.
In the meantime, thank you for being here!
xo
Courtney
My mission? I strive to help people hold on to the joy of art-making in a culture obsessed with turning artists into brands.
The blue hyperlinks you see here are affiliate links to Bookshop, where I will receive an extremely modest commission if you buy the book in question. I use these commissions to buy books myself on Bookshop. Both Bookshop.org and Indiebound.org are preferable alternatives to Amazon as both these platforms give back to indie bookshops.
I also like screenwriting books. Save the Cat for screenwriting, the original, really got me started with writing, and Stephen King’s memoir.
Thank you for including recommendations for vignettes. This is exactly what I need for my current project. I also turn to screenwriting books for help, especially The Anatomy of Story.