ON MY BOOKSHELF - USEFUL 'HOW TO' BOOKS FOR WRITERS

Stephen King, On Writing
A very honest insight into how the master crafts his stories and the writing life.

Basil van Rooyen, Get your book published in 30 (relatively) easy steps
A simple, humorous and very useful analysis of the publishing scene in South Africa.

AC&Black, Writer's & Artists Yearbook
The complete directory of all the agents and publishers in UK (and also USA).

Carole Blake, From Pitch to Publication
Understand what an agent does and how the whole process of manuscript submission works.

Strunk and White, The Elements of Style
Write better. Simpler. Without extra words.

Lynn Truss, Eats, Shoots and Leaves
A funny little book that reminds you where to put that curs'd apostrophe, amongst other things.

Albert Zuckerman, Writing the Blockbuster Novel
He helped Ken Follet become a bestseller, he can help you too.

Donald Maass, Writing the Breakout Novel
a fresh take on things, a casual style that makes you want to write.

Then again, all of these books just pass the time when you could be writing. Read them after you've got your first draft on paper. Creativity has a flow of its own, and it's easy to analyse a story to death.  Write it, enjoy it, refine it later.