5 Books That Have Improved My Writing

Ok, first off let me just say that not all of these are actually "books". Some of these are web courses. Which brings me to my first great decision to improve my writing. I flipped through my Audible account to find audiobooks that would help me out. Let me say, their selection of Great Courses is nothing short of awesome. So here goes...

1. The Art of Fiction-John Gardner- I'm a fiction writer. I study and write fiction. To me the most important thing is write good fiction. And when I got into my Great Courses, all of them, let me repeat, all of them referenced this book. And it's not hard to see why. He talks about formal and informal diction. (Where have you seen that on a blog? Does anyone really know what that's about any more?) And that's just one tiny bit of advice this man gives for writing. It is dense, so you might want to buy rather than check it out of the library. But read it is a must.
2. The Great Courses- Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft- Here is a no brainer. If you do nothing else, but sign up for an Audible trial and download the free sample book, download this one. It is grammar on a whole different level. It goes beyond subject, predicate, verb, adverb. It teaches you how to switch gears, what rhythm is, and in general how to write simply gorgeous sentences. In addition, you will receive strategies for writing suspensive sentences. What are suspensive sentences, you ask? It's the art of delaying the juice of a sentence until the very last word. By writing these kinds of sentences well, you compel your reader down a path to the next sentence and the next and so on. It will keep your book in your reader's hands. (Pro tip:  Download the PDF and then go through the exercises at the end of the chapters on your own. It really will make a difference.)
3. The Great Course-Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques- This is about story structure, point of view, evocation of everything. There is a lot to pick up there. Step by step, bit by bit, this course considers everything fiction writing can be about and pulls it back example by example and exercise after exercise. I have learned so much from this course. (And again, you will want to download the PDF and do all of the exercises.)
4. The Lord of The Rings-JRR Tolkien-Wait, a book that isn't about writing? Yeah. It's the second best selling book of the 20th century. Read it. Tolkien is a superwriter. He spent 11 years writing it. And now that you have studied how to write better you know something more than when you read him all those years ago.
5. Eats, Shoots and Leaves:The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation-Lynne Truss- I have to admit, this is my guilty pleasure. I'm not the greatest at punctuation, but I do like funny. And Lynne Truss is funny.

There you have it, my list of what has made me a better writer. If you have something you always use to help your writing, leave me a comment.