My Favorite Books on Writing—and Why

Lists of favorite books on writing are not hard to find. Most writers have a well-used selection they turn to from time to time for revivifying as they work. Written in a compelling and inspiring way, they are tools in the writerly toolbox. Anecdotes about the author’s journey are generally included. They encourage us in our own efforts—and challenge us to write, edit, rewrite, then rinse and repeat.

My short list of selections follows, along with my reasons for preferring them. Certain works crop up in favorites lists quite often and you’ll recognize some of those perennials here.

Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style

• This slim volume was originally written in 1918 by William Strunk, professor of English at Cornell University, as a writing style guide for his students. First updated and edited by writer E.B. White (Charlotte’s Web, etc.) in 1959, it has sold well over 10 million copies in four editions worldwide. It should be first among your own style guides. “Omit needless words.” “Use the active voice.” “Do not break sentences in two.” All rules are accompanied by pithy examples. Write clear, concise, lean.

Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird

• A modern classic, it is particularly valuable in helping writers see the process honestly, not cut corners, and persevere. Lamott chronicles her journey to sobriety—and what she learned about valuing her work—in her trademark manner which is engaging, funny, and always instructive. “I wish,” she writes, “there were an easier, softer way, a shortcut, but this is the nature of most good writing: that you find out things as you go along. Then you go back and rewrite.” Indeed.

William Zinsser’s On Writing Well

• Zinsser began his career as a newspaper journalist. In addition to instruction on matters of form and style, he includes chapters on writing about travel, sports, science, memoir, and even the art of humor. Like Strunk, he decries needless you-know-what. “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon.” And, amen.

Benjamin Dreyer’s Dreyer’s English

• Subtitled, An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style, it certainly is. Dreyer, retired copy chief at Random House, has written an erudite, charming, and at times, very funny guide to writing well. Chapter titles such as “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Your Prose),” “Peeves and Crochets,” and “The Confusables,” hook you from the Contents page. He digs deep in the toolbox for the finer points, sometimes with laugh-out-loud humor. Open to just about any page, learn something, and smile.

My last two are not books on writing well, but I have found them valuable.

I. Rodale’s The Synonym Finder

• My sister gave this to me years ago and I use it constantly. Mine is a big hardcover and sits with a certain air of aplomb on one corner of my desk. With 1,500,000 words, you’re not likely to be stumped for that word you need. Being clear does not mean being boring. Because you’ve read The Elements of Style, you know more words aren’t needed—just the right ones.

Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art

• It’s likely you’ve read this book, or at least heard of it. It is subtitled Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. Right out of the box, Pressfield tells us: “There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance” (Intro). This book is a robust kick in the pants. When you’ve finished reading it, you’ll be armed, ready, and inspired to get on with the work you’re called to do.

To prepare for our nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, I recently began reading Benson Bobrick’s “Angel in the Whirlwind.” In one paragraph of the 495-page tome, he describes how Thomas Jefferson studied law under the great George Wythe, who would also sign the Declaration of Independence. Wythe’s economical mode of expression deeply influenced Jefferson’s compact writing style. Jefferson encouraged his own students to “a condensation of thought and to an acquisition of the most valuable of all the talents, that of never using two words when one will do” (pg. 100). Thus, a founding father can even be an excellent writing instructor.

This world of words we inhabit—and in which we labor—constantly compels us to clearer thought and finer expression. I have found these books helpful in those necessary efforts. I hope you will find a few that help and encourage you, as well.