Anitra’s Favorite Craft Books

  • The Chicago Manual of Style, 17e

    (Univ. of Chicago Press) http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html

  • Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers, 2e

    Scott Norton (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2024). ISBN: 978-0226793634

  • Making Shapely Fiction

    Jerome Stern (W. W. Norton & Co., 1991) ISBN: 0-393-32124-X

  • Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative

    Jane Allison (Catapult, 2019). ISBN: 978-1948226134

  • On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

    William Zinsser (Harper Perennial, 2016) ISBN: 978-0060891541 [anniversary / reprint edition]

  • The Poets & Writers Guide to Literary Agents.

    PDF only. Available at: http://www.pw.org/content/the_poets_and_writers_guide_to_literary_agents

  • Save the Cat Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need

    Jessica Brody (Ten Speed Press, 2018). ISBN: 978-0399579745

  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

    Renni Browne and Dave King (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2004) ISBN 978-0060545697

  • The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know

    Shawn Coyne (Black Irish Entertainment LLC, 2015). ISBN: 978-1936891351

  • Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction, 2e

    Jack Hart (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2021). ISBN: 978-0226736921

  • Wordcraft: The Complete Guide to Clear, Powerful Writing

    Jack Hart (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2021). ISBN: 978-0226749075

  • The Writer’s Notebook: Craft Essays from Tin House

    (Tin House Books, 2009) ISBN: 978-00979419812

  • The Writer’s Notebook: Craft Essays from Tin House II

    (Tin House Books, 2012) ISBN: 978-1935639466

  • Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, 2e

    Judith Barrington (The Eighth Mountain Press, 2002) ISBN: 978-0933377509

Not Craft, but Helpful for Character Building

  • Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships

    Eric Berne (Penguin Life, 2016) ISBN: 978-0241257470 [the sections that lay out the games are the most immediately helpful, IMHO]

  • Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts, 3e

    Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (Mariner Books, 2020) ISBN: 978-0358329619