Last Minute Holiday Gifts for Writers

Today I purchased a little Christmas present for myself....Scrivener! And it inspired me to publish a little list on the books I've accumulated over the past year. All are excellent and are sure to be enjoyed by your writer friends and loved ones.

What If? - Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter : What If? was highly recommended to me by an instructor who found it to be a great teaching tool.  This is more of a 'text book' but as someone who has little formal writing education outside of Grub Street, I've found this to be invaluable.  What If? contains over 100 exercises (much more than just prompts) that focus on the elements of writing and a collection of short stories.

On Writing Horror - Horror Writers Association : The HWA's official book on writing in the Horror genre.

Danse Macabre - Stephen King : Stephen King's journey through the history of the Horror genre. Not to be missed by Horror fans.

On Writing - Stephen King : Stephen King's memoir - not just a biography. It's a quick read and a valuable learning tool.

Essentials of Screenwriting - Richard Walter : A great book on the art and craft of film and television writing.

The Elements of Style - Strunk and White : Classic, short and to the point. Perfect stocking stuffer...though it might be like getting clothes for Christmas when you were a little kid.

On Writing Well - William Zinsser : I have yet to read this one but I heard such great things about it that I recently picked it up.  It's target audience is non-fiction writers but it looks to contain great material no matter what your favored genre.

Write. - Karen Peterson : For writers block and to instill passion and confidence.  A book to check in on every once in awhile to remind one to just sit down and write. It's all about confidence people! If you write, call yourself a writer. Just sit down and get to work!

The Storymatic - The Storymatic is a huge set of writing prompts on cards that can be used for exercises or games (Six trillion stories in on little box...so it states...on the box). I've used them to force myself to sit down and write on whatever crazy combination pops out...like //pulls cards// "Person who should not be in charge" and "wrong number."  I might just start on that one right now...

There you have it folks. Now go out and spend those hard earned monies!!

I'm off to Scrivener...