Books on Writing

If you are a writer or aspiring writer, I’m sure that it has been beaten into your head that writing is a craft. The young and uninitiated may reject this notion.  “No,” they protest, “I am an artist. I can’t be concerned with little details, such as spelling, or grammar. It inhibits my creativity.” This is wrong.

Although there is certainly an art to being able to make up a story, the whole thing hinges on a command of the craft. You should have some knowledge of where to put a comma, how to construct a sentence, and how to spell. You should know the difference between there, their, and they’re. Or between here and hear, and between your and you’re. If you don’t, use an editor. I’m sure that the first time an agent or editor sees “there,” where the proper word is “their,” the thing will go right into the trash.

You also need to know how to construct a story, write dialogue, create characters, and so forth. There are a lot of people on the internet who will help you with these things for a fee. There are also a lot of books on the subject. Here are a few: