As a self-taught writer, I have learned to appreciate the wealth of information and guides available to aspiring writers. Through trail and error, I have also discovered that some guides are much more useful than others. Below I have complied a list of resources I have used on my DIY MFA adventure and beyond. While these might not be the perfect resources for you—every writer has their own story to tell and their own way to tell it—I hope you find these resources useful if you, like I, are drowning in the sea of information available in this digital age.
Craft Books
Planning and Structuring a Novel
Brody, Jessica. Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need. Ten Speed Press, 2018.
Dixon, Debra. GMC: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. Bell Bridge Books, 2013.
Maass, Donald. The Emotional Craft of Fiction, Writer’s Digest Books, 2016.
Maass, Donald. Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling, Writer’s Digest Books, 2012.
Maass, Donald. Writing the Breakout Novel. Writer’s Digest Books, 2001.
Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat! Michael Wiese Productions, 2005.
Taylor, T. 7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to SELL Your Books to ANYONE. Theodora Taylor, 2021.
Truby, John. The Anatomy of Story. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
Weiland, K.M. Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author’s Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development. PenForASword Publishing, 2016.
Weiland, K.M. Structuring Your Novel. PenForASword Publishing, 2013.
Weiland, K.M. Outlining Your Novel: May Your Way to Success. PenForASword Publishing, 2011.
Writing Advice
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Scribner, 2010.
Pereira, Gabriela. diyMFA. Writer’s Digest Books, 2016.
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Harper Perennial, 2016.
Exposition, Description, and Dialogue
Bell, James Scott. How to Write Dazzling Dialogue: The Fastest Way to Improve Any Manuscript. Compendium Press, 2014.
Writing as a Business
Chritton, Susan. Personal Branding for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2014.
Friedman, Jane. The Business of Being a Writer. The University of Chicago Press, 2018.
Wright, Christy. Business Boutique. Ramsey Press, 2017.
Creativity Books
Savage, Adam. Every Tool’s a Hammer. Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019.
Podcasts
Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Helping Writers Become Authors
Software
When I started writing, I used Microsoft Word for my stories. Then I transitioned into Celtx and yWriter. As with every aspect of writing, my preferences for software have undergone multiple iterations. Below is a list of software I currently employ in my writing endeavors.
Scapple: I never thought I would like mind maps. I was wrong. Scapple was instrumental in my outlining/planning as I worked through my thesis project for my DIY MFA. It’s a great starting point in the brainstorming process to help map out character webs, symbolism, themes, etc.
Plottr: Okay, I’ll admit, I came kick and screaming to this party. I didn’t think Plottr was for me. I already had Scrivener, why would I need another outlining software? It felt redundant. But I caved, and I’m glad I think. Plottr isn’t perfect (it’s really hard to weave in different subplots’ beats into the same scene and export in some sort of chronological, coherent Word doc for critique partners to read without a lot of time post-processing), but it’s so much easier to build scene cards and map out a cohesive outline than in Scrivener.
Scrivener: This is my writing platform for my projects, including novellas and essays. Hands down, Scrivener is my favorite place to sit and draft.
Dropbox: I have Scrivener on both my laptop and my phone, so syncing between my different devices is a necessity. I use Dropbox to store current projects and their related research.
Google Drive: While I love drafting, rewriting, and revising in Scrivener, it isn’t critique friendly. I use Google Drive for the vast majority of my critique swaps. (It isn’t great for full manuscript swaps as the more comments and edits you add, the more it bogs down the processing speed. If you have 500+ comments or edits, I’ve found it can become barely functioning on the mobile version. For big critique and editing project, I use comments and Track Changes in Word.) Just prepare yourself to fight the urge to obsessively check on feedback every time you receive a notification that someone has commented or suggested a change on your document.
ProWritingAid: I have the desktop version of ProWritingAid. Though I wish it worked as a plugin directly for Scrivener, it at least works directly into the Scrivener project files so I don’t have to constantly copy and paste scenes into their online editor.
HoursTracker: I originally bought this app to track my time for my side hustle bookkeeping business, but it is also great for tracking/recording my time spent writing and developing my craft for the day when I start earning income as a writer.
Online Articles & Websites
Marketing and Pitching Stories
How to Write a Novel Synopsis: I took an entire Great Courses class that Jane Friedman taught as part of my DIY MFA studies, but this is a handy refresher on synopsis writing as a refresher while I was working on my thesis.
Planning and Structuring a Novel
Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions by Patricia C. Wrede: I discovered this epic gem during my fiction writing class for my MFA. Woah, Momma. It’s a beast. Highly comprehensive. If you need a starting point for your world building, this is a plotter’s dream.
Plot Formula Cheatsheet: A writing friend of mine sent me this PDF and I immediately printed it out to save in my writer binder. This plot cheatsheet covers my favorite duo of Synder and Truby, as well as others such as Campbell’s hero journey and Wells’s 7-point structure. It is my go to for a quick plot refresher when I’m brainstorming and outlining a new story.
The Ultimate Character Questionnaire: I like to plot and plan. I know so much about my characters that never makes it into my stories. And that’s great. But I always forget the simple details. For instance, which shoulder blade is Alexis’s phoenix tattoo on? Where did Emily go to university and what was her major before she dropped out? What’s Mel’s go-to comfort food? The devil is in the details and nothing pulls me out of a story more than conflicting information. This ultimate character questionnaire, along with the fantasy worldbuilding questions above, are my master planning resources, especially for my upcoming fantasy septology where I have a lot of characters with a lot of things to remember over seven novels.
Writing Advice
Writing Resources by Susan Dennard: The Witchland series introduced me to Susan Dennard and her newsletter, which covers not just her writing projects but offers a lot of advice for fellow writers as well.