Lightning Flash Writing

I have wall-to-wall built-in bookshelves in my office, and they’re filled with my favorite fiction books… mostly.

There are, however, two shelves stuffed with books on writing.

(I’m kind of obsessed with books on writing.)

I wanted to share a few that have helped me so much as a ghostwriter.

Writing Romance Novels and Love Stories by Rayne Hall and Cara Crescent

I hate to admit this, but I want to be honest: I wasn’t a big romance reader before I started ghostwriting. If I hadn’t read the genre, it only made sense that I couldn’t write it! (I have sense read tons of romance novels with all sorts of tropes, so I’ve done my homework!) Still, I can’t thank Rayne Hall’s Writer’s Craft series enough for the crash course in writing romance well.

I’ve read other books in the series, and they’re all top-notch. But I have to recommend this one as a favorite because it helped me achieve great success as a romance ghostwriter.

These books include actionable advice, examples of each topic discussed, and assignments to try out what you’ve learned. They’re a great way to learn something new and then apply that knowledge to your craft.

How to Write a Successful Series by Helen Scheuerer

My reading history typically involves standalone books. However, I also fall in love with characters and want to keep reading about them, so it seems like I’d love a series, right? Reading this book helped me appreciate series even more. I have some characters I want to keep writing about, and this book helped me figure out a plan.

It gives you advice to plot an entire series, which saved my butt! For all the novels I’ve written before, I’ve never used an outline. Once I started as a ghostwriter, I had to submit outlines to clients for approval before writing the book, so I quickly learned to love them. But outlining a single book is completely different from a series, so this guide was amazing. It took me through the steps of taking a simple idea and fleshing it out into a series with an overall story arc as well as plot lines for individual installments.

Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody

In my own creative life, I’m mostly a young adult writer who loves the practical advice from the Save the Cat! series, so I was thrilled when this book came out! It has so much information about trends in YA and why you should follow or ignore them. There are plenty of examples and suggested reading (though personally, I devour YA, so I already knew these titles).

It helps you map out plot points for your novel based on the genre and has suggestions for character arcs and how to make them engaging. This book is always nearby when I’m writing, just in case I need help or a bit of inspiration.

Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall

I’ve had this book for longer than I’d care to admit. I got it when I was in college because I knew I was going to be the next great American novelist! The funny thing is, I already knew I wanted to write YA, but it wasn’t that popular. (Yes, I’m old.) There were no classes for YA writing when I was in my creative writing program. You had to learn to write for adults before trying anything else. So I got this book.

My educational experiences aside, this is a great book. It helps you pick a genre and shape your idea. It helps you structure a novel so there are no boring sections that lag for the writer and the reader! And it has tons of practical information like word count suggestions for genres.

How to Write a Short Story by John Vorwald

This is another book I got during my creative writing program. Just as we needed to learn to write novels for adults before trying anything else, we were expected to write third-person, past tense stories perfectly before trying anything else.

Can you hear me rolling my eyes from all the way over here?

Yeah, it’s a wild concept, and I didn’t agree with it at all. But I’ll play the game. This book was incredibly helpful during my MFA as I needed to churn out short stories for workshops.

There are tons of great books about writing out there – these are just a few of my favorites! I have shelves full, so I might have to share some every so often.

Do you have any writing books you turn to for help, advice, or inspiration? Share them in the comments! I love book recommendations and never stop learning.