Recommended by Melissa Conway; Jeff Fielder; Tracy Walshaw (“What made me love the book was how I felt I was face-to-face with someone whose work I had really admired since I was young, as though we were just sitting in his living room and talking about this craft we both love. The biggest thing I came away with was him saying, ‘Just do it’.”); Bret Wright (“succinct, approachable, and enjoyable”)

Recommended by Victoria Bell.

Recommended by R. Kyle (“It's not just a good writing reference, but an excellent life reference as well. I've given this book to friends in various stages of transition, including death of a partner and divorce. And Lamott is FUNNY. A few pages of this book will lift your mood, guaranteed”); Bret Wright (“succinct, approachable, and enjoyable”)

Recommended by me (“good info about plotting”); Susan Sloate (“I took McKee's workshop and then spent 2 years working with him in a small writing workshop…. He is without question the single best writing teacher in the world… No one knows more about the subject or can communicate it as effectively. His book was nowhere near as compelling as his seminars. I recommend them wholeheartedly”)

I recommended this. On Moral Fiction made me aware of my responsibility as a writer to think about what I am saying.

Recommended by SylvreKat (“I have heard this one mentioned consistently by published authors and by editors. I have gone through my copy numerous times and always find something that didn't really sink in before”); R. Kyle ("Swain IS amazing. My father took classes from him”); Betsy K. (“He particularly enlightened me on how to build some conflict into every scene and how to mesh scenes.")

Recommended by Indu Nair (for inspiration); Stevie Darbanville ("This is my hands-down favorite. His advice and analogies are just so on the money. Everybody on the planet should read that book.")

Recommended by The Reb.

I recommended this book. It's very good and not how-to-y. It just gets you writing."

Recommended by Susan Sloate ("I found it hugely helpful.")

Recommended by Beth A. O’Leary Anish ("It's funny and down-to-earth, and provides practical exercises to get you writing.")

Recommended by ClarkePeters ("Inspirational – re: focus/confirmation of what it means to invest in being a writer." ClarkePeters also suggests The Writer’s Voice by Al Alvarez and The Paris Review books of interviews with writers.)

Recommended by Victoria Bell.

Recommended by ClarkePeters ("for technical advice. Especially good on point of view." ClarkePeters also recommends Approaches to the Novel by Robert Scholes, Playwriting by Bernard Grebanier [very very helpful advice on structuring a plot’s climax], Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster [‘character is plot’], The first Five Pages by Noah Lukeman.")

Susan Sloate said, "I read it years ago and found it hugely amazing. Rand also did a series of lectures that was published as The Art of Fiction, which contains some of the same material."

Recommended by Stevie Darbanville ("I dug this book on writing poetry as a hobby.")

Recommended by Victoria Bell and Miz Ellen.