A List of 45 Books About Writing

Books. We read them. We write them. We love them.

Even a writer who’s been at it for a while can always learn something new. Sometimes when my brain gets stale, or I find myself struggling with some aspect of a story, a short visit to my personal library will give me the boost I need. Refreshing oneself is part of the creative process.

I’ve listed the tomes on my bookshelf in alphabetical order for convenience, but almost all of these titles have been invaluable to me at some point in my career. Many are about techniques and style, while others address the business and promotion aspect of being an author. But don’t stop here--search your favorite bookseller for new releases about this craft we love and hate at the same time.

Toni Leland’s Bookshelf

American Slang - Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.

Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia

Between the Lines - Jessica Page Morrell

Book Marketing from A-Z - Francine Silverman

Conversations with American Writers - Charles Ruas

Dangerous Men & Adventurous Women: The Appeal of Romance - Jayne Ann Krentz, editor

Dictionary of Cultural Literacy - Hirsch, Kent & Trefil

Elements of Grammar - Margaret Shertzer

Elements of Style - Strunk & White

Emotion Amplifiers - Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi

Feature & Magazine Writing - David E. Sumner & Holly G. Miller

Fiction Dictionary - Laurie Henry

Finding Your Voice - Les Edgerton

G M C: Goal, Motivation & Conflict - Debra Dixon

Grammatically Correct - Anne Stilman

How to Write Dazzling Dialogue - James Scott bell

How to Write Killer Fiction - Carolyn Wheat

Merriam-Webster’s Manual for Writers and Editors

New Encyclopedia of American Scandal - George Childs Kohn

No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript That Sells - Alice Orr

On Writing - Stephen King

Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus

Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

Plot & Structure - James Scott Bell

Self-Publishing Attack - James Scott Bell

Story Structure Architect - Victoria Lynn Schmidt, Ph.D.

Take the Mystery Out of Promoting Your Book - P.M. Terrell

Techniques of the Selling Writer - Dwight V. Swain

The Art of Character - David Corbett

The Career Novelist - Donald Maass

The Chicago Manual of Style

The Complete guide to Article Writing - Naveed Saleh

The First Five Pages - Noah Lukeman

The Forest for the Trees - Betsy Lerner

The Novel Writer’s Toolkit - Bob Mayer

Webster’s II New College Dictionary

Wham Bam Publishing: Strategic Marketing Plan - Janice & Joan Phelps

Write Your Novel From the Middle  - James Scott Bell

Writer’s Guide to Places - Don Prues & Jack Heffron

Writing Fiction for All You're Worth - James Scott Bell

Writing Mysteries - Sue Grafton, editor

Writing the Blockbuster Novel - Albert Zuckerman

Writing the Breakout Novel - Donald Maass

Inside a Writer's Mind

A peculiar thing happens to writers. Not immediately, you understand. But as we learn our craft and smooth the rough spots, the rhythms of writing start to become second nature. Then, suddenly, we find ourselves unable to read fiction or watch a movie without applying every tidbit we've gleaned from myriad how-to books, magazine articles, workshops, and conferences.
This may not seem like a big thing, but for me, the phenomenon comes close to obsessive. Imagine a family member's reaction when I groan about a story I'm reading: "Why did the author do that? It's not in character!" Or I turn and smile knowingly at my husband: "Did you see the way the screenwriter used foreshadowing?" or "Right there--that was the second turning point!" He just shakes his head.
But this new awareness is not a bad thing. The very fact that we as writers recognize the structure, symbolism, and end intent of another's work proves that we are growing--absorbing the sweat equity of those who have clawed their way to the top of the cliff and hoisted themselves over. A reward, if you will.
Every craft has its weirdness, and it takes a certain amount of "hermit-ness" to stay the course. But behind the drive to become published, a thought hovers in the back of every writer's mind as he or she reads a bestseller or watches a great movie--I can do this.

©2018 Toni Leland

Don't be Boring Just to Make Word Count

A few years ago, I had a great Skype session with my almost-13-year-old granddaughter, who was an avid reader and a great help to me with my Young Adult WIP, Tattoo, The Awakening.

Anyway, she asked what the next few scenes would be and I mentioned that my main character would be taking a trip to another state. She nodded, then leaned forward so I could see her expression on the screen.

"Well, okay, but leave out the boring stuff."

This caught me off guard. What would a young teen find boring about a trip? So I asked her, and she didn't hesitate at all.

"You know, sitting in the plane, taking off, all that stuff. If you use the plane trip, make it exciting. Like, if the plane crashes and she's the only survivor!"

Okay, I can see that this child will not be fooled by filler. And if she isn't, then neither will the thousands of other young readers we hope to woo with our tales.

So, back to boring. In the early stages of my fiction-writing career, I attended a workshop given by a successful writer in which she outlined the parts of a novel and their importance. She focused on the "sagging middle" because that's where many authors have problems. She talked about breaking up the story into mostly equal word counts to achieve the final goal, and how to dole out the story points through the whole thing.

Could I keep my mouth shut? Nope. During Q&A, I mentioned that my story was finished, but I only had 65,000 words and the required count was 85,000. How could I fix it? Without missing a beat, she said, "Come up with more story." It was the right answer, but what she didn't include was HOW to do that. I had to learn that on my own.

A story arc has three "acts" made up of scenes. Each scene should tell the reader something new and move the story forward smoothly. A story outline can give the author a map to follow and, like a road trip, should include some scenery and attractions along the way. Building the story world is one way to expand word count, but add too much and you'll have readers skipping through the narrative. Extensive character description can also expand word count, but most readers prefer to visualize a character themselves rather than read about the mundane physical details. Dialogue is one of the best writing techniques for carrying a story, but make every word golden. Lots of dialogue is good and provides plenty of white space on the page that gives one the feeling of reading quickly. But dialogue that tracks every reply and grunt and "Hi" and "Yeah" and "Fine, how are you?" is boring! We write stories not about real life as it boringly is, but real life as it is interesting. Conflict is the foundation of every story, so use it to the fullest. 

Know ahead of time what your genre expects for word count and include it in your initial story plan. I recently found this great explanation of word counts; it will make life much easier for me in the future and I hope for you too.

To figure out how to achieve your desired word count, look at each scene or plot point and ask yourself, "What else can happen to make this more interesting?" This is how you "come up with more story."

Now, about that plane crash...

Feeding the Writer's Muse

Writing is hard work! (No one believes that but other writers.) One of the things that commonly happens to those of us who spend hundreds of hours at our computers is we either 1) forget to eat, or 2) resent having to stop to eat, or worse—cook. Sounds harmless, but feeding the brain is a very important part of writing.

Feeding the Muse 
The brain requires a steady supply of glucose (carbohydrate) in order to function correctly. In fact, the brain uses twice the energy of any other cell in your body and can only utilize carbohydrate to generate that energy. Now, I'm not talking about a steady diet of chocolate or potato chips (although the chocolate sounds like a good plan to me), but a writer must not fall into the habit of not eating because they are on deadline or on a roll. Conversely, too much sugar can cause brain fatigue. Avoid sweet soft drinks, pastries, cookies, and candy among others.

I keep snack foods in a drawer near my desk for those times when I,m hungry, but don't want to stop what I'm doing. Snacks that provide the mental energy without the calorie load include dried fruit (apricots, cranberries, raisins, etc.), nuts (walnuts and almonds), and easy to eat fresh fruit (blueberries, cherries, grapes, etc.).

Another cause of brain fatigue is dehydration. Again, who wants to leave their work to go get a drink of water? I keep a small bottle of water at hand, and try to drink at least 8 cups of water per day. Other beverages that will hydrate but not overload your brain with sugar include caffeine-free tea and fruit juice.

Plot With Your Crockpot! 

As far as I'm concerned, my crockpot is my best friend. With just the tiniest bit of planning, I can sit down to a delicious dinner at the end of the day without having interrupted my work flow. On any given day, I write at least one blog post, one gardening article, text for my websites, begin or finish a feature article or column. I love not having to think about food!

For those who are away from home during the day, set up the crockpot in the morning or the night before, plug it into a timer so it will come on and turn off at the correct hour. You'll have a nice meal waiting for you, and can get on with your writing on a full tummy.

Here's one of my favorite crockpot recipes.

Pork Ragout with Fruit
Serves 8
Ragout is simply a fancy name for stew! You can substitute chicken, but be sure to use dark meat only. Breast meat will dry out during the long cooking time.

4 lbs bone-in pork shoulder or finger ribs
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp ground ginger (or 2 tsp fresh grated)
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/4 cup red-wine or sherry vinegar (cider works just as well)
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbs minced fresh)
1 can reduced sodium beef broth (or 1 bouillon cube + 1 cup water)
1 cup whole dried apricots or peaches
1 cup dried cranberries (I use Craisins) or cherries or even prunes
1 cup dry sherry (or orange juice)
2 Tbs water
2 tsp cornstarch

Arrange onion in bottom of crockpot. Add meat, then season with salt, pepper, ginger, brown sugar, and thyme. Add vinegar, broth, sherry or juice, and fruit.
Cover and set to low. Cook 4 to 6 hours, depending on your experience with your own crockpot. Before serving, thicken liquid with cornstarch/water.

This dish is perfect served in a bowl or, if you feel like serving it over rice, it's fabulous that way too!

Other super-easy and delicious crockpot meals include Mac & Cheese and Simple Chicken. Google recipes that are one step meals–who has time to brown meat and fry onions and pre-cook stuff to go into the crockpot!

2018 Toni Leland

Why Do I Write Horse Fiction?

My name is Toni Leland and I’m a horse addict. 

Seriously...I could have been the poster child for the classic horse-crazy girl.

I discovered horses when I was about 7 years old. Unfortunately, about the same time, I discovered that my father was terrified of them and that there wouldn’t be a horse in my future any time soon.

So to fuel my passion, I hooked up with another horse-crazy girl. We spent hours talking about horses, dreaming about horses, pretending we were horses. . .the boys on the playground were terrified of us!

I took it one step further and wrote stories about horses. Girl rescues horse. Horse rescues girl. Horse and girl have an adventure. . . I wish I had some of those stories now!

Anyway, when my BFF got her very own horse, I was both thrilled and devastated. She no longer had much time for me and our imaginary steeds, and I began the press to convince my father that a horse would be a good thing for me to have.

He relented the year I turned 12 and, from then on, my life revolved around horses—sometimes more, sometimes less.

But one thing remained constant. To this day, even though I no longer have horses of my own, I still get that quickening in the pit of my stomach any time I’m near one.

Write what you know and love. The writing experts have it nailed.

When I set off on this journey of writing fiction, I naturally settled into the comfort zone of my addiction.

My first book was a romantic mystery, built around the Arabian horses I raised in the 80s. Though they were long gone, I held them near to me as we worked our way through the story and revisited characters from those years in the “horse business.” The process was sometimes painful and poignant, but it was also energizing. I’d found my niche.

As Winning Ways finished, I was already well into my next novel. Being fairly adventurous, I’d decided to see if I could write a straight romance—follow the formula, but write one with a horsey setting.

I was a little skeptical about the endeavor. After all, when does a busy horse owner have time to date, let alone nurture a strong, loving relationship? And into what niche would an equestrian romance fit?

When Hearts Over Fences hit the streets, I quickly learned that I had no clue as to “what works.” The book exploded in popularity and today it is still selling in both print and ebook.

So you’d think I’d jump on this gravy train, right? Nooooo. I was already off on another tangent. I wanted to write a thriller about the possibility of terrorism in one’s own backyard, er. . . barn. After Gambling With the Enemy was published in 2006, I headed back toward romantic suspense.

Deadly Heritage embraced that age-old theme of love lost and found. But my characters were constantly challenged by danger and family treachery.

As the nation’s economy nose-dived in 2009, so did business. Horse farms and breeders were deeply affected as the cost of keeping animals skyrocketed. If you can’t feed ’em, what do you do with them?

Horse rescue operations were overwhelmed and the horror stories began to hit the news.

Addressing two similar subjects, I began work on Rescue Me, the story of a horsewoman trapped in a brutally abusive marriage. The research alone on this book made me ever thankful that I didn’t have answers from first-hand experience.

Always a fan of Dick Francis, I began thinking seriously about a mystery series. What I needed was a couple of independent, horse-loving individuals who would save the horse world, case by case. Never did I imagine what hard work this would be! But the team of Kovak & Quaid was born in 2012, and they've been chasing bad guys ever since!

My lifelong love affair with horses has served me well...given me joy and inspiration, and a ton of memories. Now if I can just get them all down on paper....