The Art of Fiction, by John Gardner

Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande

Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott

Deep Writing, by Eric Maisel

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence & Spirit, by Brenda Ueland     One of my all-time favorites. I would love to have been friends with this woman. Read this if you want to break through to deep, authentic writing – and living.

Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke

The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer’s Block, and the Creative Brain, by Alice W. Flaherty

On Writing Well, by William Zinsser

One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers, by Gail Sher  Approaches writing as practice and as a discipline; excellent, especially if you are into Zen or other types of meditation.

A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf

Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing, by L.L. Barkat

The Tao of Writing, by Ralph L. Wahlstrom

Wabi Sabi for Writers, by Richard R. Powell

The Writer’s Portable Mentor, by Priscilla Long

The Writer’s Workout, by Christina Katz  A kind of “bible,” you can read a page a day. This is what you need to know to be a writer, now, in these bewildering times as publishing transforms itself.

The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard

NATALIE GOLDBERG
There is no one quite like her. Honest, self-revealing, no holding back. Challenges you to go to places within yourself you don’t want to go, which can transform your writing and creative work.

Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life

Writing Down the Bones

Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir

MEMOIR & PERSONAL ESSAY

Crafting the Personal Essay, by Dinty W. Moore

Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, by Sue William Silverman  Outstanding, especially if you are writing about difficult personal circumstances.

The Made-Up Self: Impersonation in the Personal Essay, by Carl H. Klaus

The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative, by Vivian Gornick

Writing Life Stories, by Bill Roorbach, with Kristen Keckler, Ph.D.

Your Life as Story, by Tristine Rainer  An excellent book if you want to learn how to set up a scene, beat by emotional beat, and construct a long form narrative arc. One of my most valuable memoir resources.

OUTSTANDING WEBSITES

Writing Our Way Home