There are many books out there, too many to count, about the various aspects of the craft and the publishing industry. Some of them are good, and some of them... Well...
I know my readership, and I know what it is they would likely find of value. But there are some books that other writers and editors will bounce up and down as being the greatest book on the planet. So, I decided to compile this list of books that others recommend that I don't. With each listing, I've included my reasoning for why you won't find the book on my recommended books list.
You are well within your rights to disagree with me, which is why this list exists. (This list is alphabetized by the writer's last name.)
In my opinion, this particular book is an outlier from the other books in the Bell on Writing series. Many of the other books that he has written about writing and the publishing industry are on my recommended books list, but this book seemed to be missing vital information that is actually found in his other books.
The concept presented in the book definitely has merit (planning out your story from the midpoint and radiating outward in an equidistant manner, with beat points mirroring one another), but most of the information presented in this book is better presented in his other books.
I can't, in good faith, include this particular book on the recommended books list because of its failings. But do go and check out his other books on the list.
This book is commonly recommended for developmental editing, but I struggle to figure out why. It takes forever for Coyne to get to the crux of the methodology he uses to analyse the rise and fall of tension. When he finally gets there, there is zero discussion about what to do with the spreadsheets or even how to turn those spreadsheets into pretty graphs. The book is about generating data with no context for what the data represents or how to use the information.
While I can see the merit of his technique, this book would confuse many writers who are not scientifically inclined like I am.
While the first two chapters in the books do help writers to understand the difference between conflict and obstacles (and how adding more conflict doesn't mean adding more fight scenes), the book as a whole is a little repetitious, with little context on how to actually build more conflict into your writing.
I have spoken to other writers about this book, and we all felt the same way about it. While it might be useful as a diagnostic tool if you are continually getting the feedback that your writing needs more conflict, there are possibly better books out there on the topic of conflict within writing. (Let the hunt begin!)
I wanted to like this book, because it's Michael Hauge, but I couldn't because of its outdated nonfiction structure. I read the latest version of the book, the New 20th Anniversary Edition, which was published in 2011, and even I, who knows the topic, found it hard to follow.
The information is good and still pertains to industry as it stands today, BUT it is written in a structure that appeals to generations of the past. (That makes since considering the first edition of this book was published in 1988.) Finding information quickly is difficult. It is page after page of just text with little white space to aid in the reading process. In addition, a significant amount of the book is dedicated to discussions about movies that haven't been on the big screen for decades.
If you want to read it, read it. Be advised that you will likely find the same information from many other sources structured in a way that is much easier to read.
I'm sure this book was valuable when it was written, but it was written for an era that is long over. It was originally published in 1983, and no, she can't write a new version. The woman died in 1995.
People, nearly 40 years of publishing have happened since this book was first published. The industry has moved on in a BIG way. Even our reading styles of absorbing information from nonfiction materials have changed significantly.
This book is not on the recommended list because it's too outdated.
For the poets and literary writers out there, I would recommend getting your hands on a copy of Verlyn Klinkenborg's Several Short Sentences About Writing. It's a book about how to write, but written in poetry form.
Seriously, it's trippy to read, and for a novelist like myself, it did my head in at points, but OMG, talk about amazing use of wordplay. Everything is written to take full advantage of rhythm and cadences within the writing. The poets out there would love it.
However, I can't add this one to the recommended list because of its odd usages of punctuation and paragraphing. It would confuse the newer writers who are attempting to become short story writers or novelists.
This is another book that is commonly recommended for developmental editing, but I do wonder if this is because of the title. This book is actually intended for developmental editing of nonfiction. The concepts described in the book will not help a writer crafting fiction.
Saying that, the comments on marketing might be useful for some writers.
In 2020, Joanna Penn released Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and Virtual Worlds. In this book, she talked about how the internet technologies are revolutionizing the publishing industry.
At the moment, many of the technologies that she mentioned are still in their infancy, and haven't totally made it into the realm of publishing, but some of the discussions have definitely left me with food for thought. In particular, her discussion about copyright and piracy highlights an inefficiency within legislation to be able to cope with the rapid changes that have occurred within internet technologies.
Changes are coming, and the writers of today are at the forefront of that change. While I do recommend that people read this book, I can't add it to the recommended bookshelves because it is just a commentary about the technologies that are coming and how they might impact the publishing industry.
Like so many other books that I read, this one seems to contain much the same information that other books do, but presented in a way that is not that easy to absorb for the modern reader. Ironic, considering this book was first published in 2017.
Regardless, it does not make it onto the recommendation list.
This book is targeted at the more advanced writer and is a good book — if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of the hero's journey. The book contains an in-depth analysis on how the hero's journey type stories work, but at times, the key information is difficult to pull out, requiring that pre-existing knowledge of fundamental writing techniques. In addition, if you are writing a story that is something other than the hero's journey, then the information in this book will not help you.
In truth, the hero's journey has become so common that it's become an overused trope, particularly in high fantasy, where this book seems to have been targeted. Writers trying to break into this industry would be better served to write a different style of story.