Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft by David Morrell
A bestselling novelist provides insights and advice learned during 30 years of writing and selling novels--insider secrets that are sure to help writers achieve the next level of literary success.

Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Eleanor Atwood
Margaret Atwood, bestselling author of The Handmaid's Tale and The Blind Assassin, now turns a critical eye and examines the craft of writing. Looking back on her own childhood and writing career, Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction and poetry have used to explain their activities, looking at what costumes they have assumed, what roles they have chosen to play. Atwood's wide reference to other writers, living and dead, is balanced by anecdotes from her own experiences, both in Canada and elsewhere. The lightness of her touch is offset by a seriousness about the purpose and the pleasures of writing, and by a deep familiarity with the myths and traditions of western literature. This memorable new book should be on every writer's bookshelf along with Stephen King's On Writing.

Write & Sell Your Novel: The Fiction Writer's Guide to Writing for Publication by Marina Oliver
If you want to write a novel, the second edition of this popular handbook is the guide you need. Step by step it shows you how to get started, how to create compelling characters, plots and subplots, and whose viewpoint to tell your story from. There are tips on how to prepare your work for submission, who to send it to and an overview of the whole publishing process. Don't start writing without it! Marina Oliver has published over 30 novels, historical and contemporary, and lectures widely on writing.

On Teaching and Writing Fiction by Wallace Earle Stegner; Lynn Stegner
Stegner brings together eight previously uncollected essays--including four never-before-published pieces--on writing fiction and teaching creative writing. In this unique collection he addresses every aspect of fiction writing from the writer's vision to his or her audience to the recognizable truth it seeks finally to reveal.

The Art & Craft of the Short Story by Rick DeMarinis
In his highly personal and compelling style, DeMarinis shares advice, classic examples and exercises in this definitive book on the short story.

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Card's Hugo award-winning classic teaches how to produce market-ready stories based on worlds readers will want to explore.

I Have This Nifty Idea...Now What Do I Do with It? by Mike Resnick
This book contains outlines for science fiction and fantasy novels which real authors (new and old) used to sell their books to major publishing companies . . . actual examples drawn from authors files, not idealized versions prepared just for a textbook.Whether youre a beginning writer looking to break into novels, an experienced professional seeking new tools and techniques to sell books, or a fan curious about the remarkable thought-processes of some of the great genre writers of our time, you will find something here which enlightens, educates, and entertains you.

The Novelist's Notebook by Laurie Henry
Laurie Henry nurtures writers throught the long and sometimes lonely task of writing a novel. Her 115 imaginative journal activities offer ways to approach every stage of the process from creating characters to shaping the story, from exploring themes ro revising and polishing. She helps writers develop a schedule, conduct research, benefit from bad days, even think of a title.

The Truth about Fiction by Steven Schoen
This book presents readers and creative writing enthusiasts with comprehensive coverage of the elements of fiction and real-world writing techniques that help build skills -- such as sensory detailing, character construction, and cause and effect plotting. Plenty of practical advice completes this treatment of the fiction genre. Chapter topics include character, plot, story structure, dialogue, point of view, style, and details. For writers pursuing a hobby or a dream -- or just dabbling, this insightful guide will teach them how do it and "say" it better.

The Stuff of Fiction: Advice on Craft by Douglas Bauer
The Stuff of Fiction is a collection of lively essays by esteemed novelist Douglas Bauer on the tools of the fiction writer's craft. Based on his popular lectures as a core faculty member in the Bennington Writing Seminars, individual chapters examine the components of successful stories, from creating the first sentence to crafting a fitting ending. Bauer's primary focus is on three critical elements of fiction writing: dialogue, character, and dramatic event. He sees dialogue as an overheard conversation that has an inherent intimacy and power that should not be squandered by the writer. He discusses the challenge of creating characters that are psychologically complex, both flawed and sympathetic. He cautions new writers against overloading their stories with highly dramatic events--or avoiding them altogether.

The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit: Everything You Need to Know about Queries, Synopses, Marketing & Breaking in by Elizabeth Lyon
Lyon offers novelists the wisdom of her experience as an author, book editor, writing instructor, and marketing consultant. Step-by-step, she details what editors want, what questions to ask them, and how to develop a marketing strategy.

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass; Anne Perry
Using real-life case studies, the author shows novelists how to create a powerful and sweeping sense of time and place, develop larger-than-life characters, sustain a high degree of narrative tension, and explore universal themes that will interest a large audience of readers.

Mooring Against the Tide: Writing Fiction and Poetry by Jeffrey Knott; Tim Schell; Jeff Knorr
This creative writing text will serve as a guide to steer through sometimes rough and unsure waters until the writer is safely moored against the tide.

Novel & Short Story Writer's Market: 1,900+ Places to Get Your Fiction Into Print by Anne Bowling; Vanessa Lyman
Inside this handbook, fiction writers will find completely updated market entries for book publishers, magazines, literary agents, contests and script houses, plus brand new information on e-publishers, including interviews with industry experts, editors of e-magazines and more.

The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth by Raymond Obstfeld; Franz Neumann
Myths, says James N. Frey, are the basis of all storytelling, and their structures and motifs are as powerful for contemporary writers as they were for Homer. In "The Key, novelist and fiction-writing coach Frey applies his popular "Damn Good" approach to Joseph Campbell's insights into the universal structure of myths, providing a practical guide for fiction writers and screenwriters who want to shape their ideas into a powerful mythic story.

On Writing by Eudora Welty
Covering techniques and tools every writer should know, this primer on the art of fiction is presented by one of the 20th-century's masters, Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty.

How to Write a Novel by John Braine
A classic practical guide and manual which tells the aspiring writer everything about writing a publishable first novel. Includes a wealth of quotations and advice, know-how and technique.

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Card's Hugo award-winning classic teaches how to produce market-ready stories based on worlds readers will want to explore.

Novelist's Essential Guide to Crafting Scenes by Raymond Obstfeld
Shows how to create specific types of scenes -- action scenes, comic scenes, sex scenes and more -- then reveals how to link these scenes to form powerful novels.

Creating Fiction: Instruction and Insights from Teachers of the Associated Writing Programs by Julie Checkoway
Learn how to revise and edit from Jane Smiley, find ways to evoke time and place from Richard Russo, and explore tone and emphasis with Charles Baxter. Their sage advice, along with essays from 21 other contributors from the Associated Writing Programs, assure that "Creating Fiction" will engage and delight readers at any level of experience.

The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing by Norman Mailer
Novel & Short Story Writer's Market 2003 by Anne Bowling (editor)
On Writing by Eudora Welty
Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing by Margaret Eleanor Atwood
Careers for Your Characters : A Writers Guide to 99 Professions from Architect to Zookeeper by Raymond Obstfeld, Franz Neumann
The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah T. Lukeman
Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver
The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction by Michael Seidman
45 Master Characters : Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Schmidt
Hooking the Reader: Opening Lines that Sell by Sharon Rendell-Smock
On Writing by Stephen King
Fiction Writer's Brainstormer by James V. Smith, Jr.
The Writer's Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters by Marc Mucutcheon
Writer's Guide to Character Traits by Linda N. Edelstein
Description (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Monica Wood
Dialogue (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Lewis Turco
Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Ansen Dibell
Setting (Elements of Fiction Writing) by Jack M. Bickham
Conflict, Action and Suspense (Elements of Fiction Writing) by William Noble
Building Better Plots by Robert Kernen
Creating Fiction by Julie Checkoway
The Writer's Tool Box: How to Write Fiction and Non-Fiction That Will Sell by Patrika Vaughn
Writing the Short Story by Jack M. Bickham
Writing Fiction Step by Step by Josip Novakovich
Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. Le Guin
Story Starters: How to Jump-Start Your Imagination, Get Your Creative Juices Flowing, and Start Writing Your Story or Novel by Lou Willett Stanek
Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress
Six Walks in the Fictional Woods by Umberto Eco
Telling Lies For Fun & Profit by Lawrence Block, Introduction by Sue Grafton