Books on writing that you love to read.

[Solaris]

This is one of the books that is on my writing shelf.

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, by Jack M. Bickham.

What are your books on writing that is on your shelf?

Beth

[shinigamiinochi]

Stephen King's On Writing. It was amazingly insightful, and unlike a lot of writing books I have read in the past, it had a lot of useful information, not just idealistic crap that's a dime a dozen. Not to mention, because it was written by King, it was very well written and understandable instead of reading like stereo instructions.

[cu-kid9]

I have Natalie Goldberg's Wild Mind - which is just wonderfully quirky enough to make me not feel like I'm reading a book on writing - and So You Want to Write. That one has just sat on my shelf for a while, though. I also have The Artist's Way, which isn't really about writing, per se, but more about trying to get back in tune with your muse/creativity/whatever you want to call it. I find it immensely helpful when I have writer's block to go through some of the exercises in there and remind myself how to tell my inner-editor to shut the hell up.

[Avarion]

I have The Writer's Block which is literally a fat block of a book full of triggers to jump start the imagination. Very handy!

I also have The Writer's Book of Days which takes an unusually holistic approach to practising writing, overcoming the censor and conquering writer's block. This is my favourite of the two as it's such a pleasure to read in itself.

[Solaris]

There is another book that I have in my writing book shelf. The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

But I do have other books about writing that I read quite often.

Beth

[Gnome]

The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler - Fantastic for anyone who needs help in particular with structuring a story. It breaks down the hero's journey into twelve steps which can be great building blocks for new writers. After all it's easier to follow rules until we know how to break them.

On Writing by Stephen King - This one has already been mentioned.

Both of the above are easy to read, even when tired. I read them on the the train commuting between London and home. If you're only going to read one of these two though I'd point you at Vogler.