Top Writing books curated by experts

At MentorCruise, we are all about making the most out of the experience of others. As part of that, we have connected and asked dozens of experts and professionals about their favouriteWriting books – and here are the answers.

  • Curated by industry experts
  • Proven learning resources
  • Updated annually
Top Writing books recommended by experts
User Check

Did you know?

We have over 3,000 mentors available right now!

Fundamentals of Writing

Understanding the concepts of Writing starts with understanding the fundamentals. On your way to mastery, it's crucial for you to understand how certain concepts were derived, and why things work like they do. Starting with these resources is the best way to do so.

Self-editing for Fiction Writers

Self-editing for Fiction Writers

In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same p…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

On Writing Well

On Writing Well

On Writing Well has been praised for its sound advice, its clarity and the warmth of its style. It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to w…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work. “Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Ste…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

A succinct, engaging, and practical guide forsucceeding in any creative sphere, The War ofArt is nothing less than Sun-Tzu for the soul. What keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do? Why is there a naysayer within? How can we avoid theroadblocks of any creative endeavor—be it starting …

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Writing the Breakout Novel

Writing the Breakout Novel

Writing the Breakout Novel is a craft book written by a famous literary agent that discusses the strategies necessary for a writer to create a successful breakout novel. The book is split into eleven chapters, which include Premise, Stakes, Time and Place, Plot, and Theme.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)

Becoming a writer begins with a simple but important belief: You are a writer; you just need to write. In You Are a Writer, Jeff Goins shares his own story of self-doubt and what it took for him to become a professional writer and best-selling author—and the principles he’s learned from seeing m…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Additional Writing Reading

These books are not required for you to learn Writing, but they are highly recommended for you to deepen your knowledge.

The Writing Life

The Writing Life

The writing life is the short story book which has seven chapters. It talks about how to become a good writer and how to create a good writing by passing through the perspective and personal experience of Annie Dillard.

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors

Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors

Want to bring characters to life on the page as vividly as fine actors do on the stage or screen? Getting into Character will give you a whole new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the Method acting theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth guide explain…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

The Writing Life: Writers on How They Think and Work

The Writing Life: Writers on How They Think and Work

Featuring a gathering of more than fifty of contemporary literature's finest voices, this volume will enchant, move, and inspire readers with its tales of The Writing Life. In it, authors divulge professional secrets: how they first discovered they were writers, how they work, how they deal with…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Don't Make Me Think

Don't Make Me Think

Five years and more than 100,000 copies after it was first published, it's hard to imagine anyone working in Web design who hasn't read Steve Krug's "instant classic" on Web usability, but people are still discovering it every day. In this second edition, Steve adds three new chapters in the sam…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

Garner's Modern English Usage

Garner's Modern English Usage

With more than a thousand new entries and more than 2,300 word-frequency ratios, the magisterial fourth edition of this book-now renamed Garner's Modern English Usage (GMEU)-reflects usage lexicography at its finest. Garner explains the nuances of grammar and vocabulary with thoroughness, finess…

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

On Moral Fiction

On Moral Fiction

He says that moral fiction "attempts to test human values, not for the purpose of preaching or peddling a particular ideology, but in a truly honest and open-minded effort to find out which best promotes human fulfillment."

Recommended by the experts and mentors at MentorCruise.

This list is curated by MentorCruise and can include Amazon affiliate links. Have any other suggestions? Add here.

Augment your Writing books

There is no better source of accountability and motivation than having a personal mentor. What used to be impossible to find is now just two clicks away! All mentors are vetted & hands-on!

Still not convinced? Don't just take our word for it

We've already delivered 1-on-1 mentorship to thousands of students, professionals, managers and executives. Even better, they've left an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for our mentors.

Find a Writing mentor