There are other books on writing such as On Writing by Stephen King and Elements of Style by Strunk & White for example. Word Up is fun way to wrap up this great eight list. Unlike Prose she uses her own writing instead of the masters however, the advantage to this is that Johnston can then describe what she was thinking and her revision process. Like Nobody Reads Your Stuff, Johnston gives you advice on how to build an audience (brand, vision, consistency) and practical tips on revision, like Koch, along with plenty of personal examples without the usual filler, like Sullivan. Johnston’s advice is simple and direct with an enthusiastic tone like Bradbury. Much like Handley lays out the rules on usage in terms everybody can understand, this award winning book starts with the grammar basics in easily digestible chapters, which were or could be blog posts. I found this all well organized, mildly professorial, and encouraging, but a little vague at times. Koch stays true throughout, he will give you both sides of the coin - as successful writers have done it both ways. As your write you’ll also find your style and revise, revise, revise. After his introductory chapters on making time to write and the writing life, Koch gets underway with how to find your story and develop your characters. You also need work-ethic, thick skin, and tenacity. A writer must imagine, remember, observe, and write - of course. This well organized book’s main themes are: you have to write, your story is your character and your character is your story, and you should borrow from other writers. Koch is brutally honest about the difficulty of writing and I appreciated that.

Koch chaired Columbia University’s creative writing program, but this is a great resource for beginners. The Modern Library: Writer’s Workshop - Steven Koch

While I added many of her “Books to Be Read Immediately” to my reading list, I was a bit intimated after reading the best of best - I’ve found that just running a mile with world-class marathoner is tough, writing after Austen, Tolstoy, and O’Connor is daunting. Her close reading style works well with words and sentences, and is surprisingly effective with the other topics. Besides great examples, Reading Luke a Writer has a great progression from Words, to Sentences, Paragraphs, Narration, Character, Dialogue, Details, and Gesture. A close reading of the selected passages with Prose’s commentary is reminiscent of college.

The masters here are Austen, von Kleist, Tolstoy, Cheever, Babel, Roth, O’Connor, Eliot, Wolfe, Etc. Prose, an accomplished writer and a creative writing teacher, states that creative writing cannot taught, but she can help teach us would-be writers by showing us the masters. Learn to write by studying the masters - that’s Prose’s opening premise.

Simple and Direct by Jacques Barzun