How to Write Well - Highest Quality Book Recommendations

The world is full of writers writing about how to write, but are they right? (see what I did there?). I've read my share of terrible writing books, so I'll spare you those and give you the best ones I've found so far in my journey.

Here I will give you two highly recommended books about writing:

On Writing by Steven King, and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White

In the introduction to On Writing, Steven King says, "One notable exception to the b*** rule is The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. There is little or no detectable [crap] in that book. (Of course, its short; at eighty-five pages it's much shorter than this one.) I'll tell you right now that every aspiring writer should read The Elements of Style. Rule 17 in the chapter titled Principles of Composition is "Omit needless words." I will try to do that here."

Succinct, short, cheap (I found it for a few dollars at a bookstore), accessible, relevant, and highly recommended.

It teaches grammar, structure, how to look for redundancy and unnecessary words, how to get ideas across, how to craft paragraphs, and more.

It is a no-nonsense, no-fluff guide to the keys of writing well.

On Writing by Steven King

This was first recommended to me by an editor, publisher, and author friend of mine a few years ago. It is part autobiography, part writing advice. It has interesting stories and is recommended by professionals everywhere (it is Stephen King after all).

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I am aware of, no shortcut. (139)" - On Writing by Stephen King

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that (142)." - On Writing by Stephen King

As I discover more quality writing books, I will share them :)

Also, let me know if you want to see more content about writing well.