NaNoWriMo: Featured Books For Writers

If someone you know is writing a novel right now, it may be because November is National Novel Writers Month, a.k.a. NaNoWriMo. The "write a novel in a month" movement was founded in 1999 by a writer named Chris Baty. No, he wasn't batty. He was Baty, and by 2006 Baty and his staff had converted NaNo into a non-profit. 

This month the Duluth Public Library, and probably many others around the country, has assembled a display of books about writing. Seeing these books caused me to reflect on my own writing career. 

There was a sense in which I felt called to be a writer. As you know, once you feel called to do something you feel impelled to do it well. In addition to attending a writers group and a couple writers conferences I also set about to read, or at least borrow, every book on writing in our library. The best of these I would purchase for my own personal library. 

Are you a writer seeking to sharpen your craft? Do what I did. I read voraciously. I also subscribed to Writer's Digest and The Writer for a few years. Honing your skills includes not only learning how to write well. You also need to learn how the publishing industry works, how articles end up in print and books get published.

I make no promises about the caliber of the books displayed on this page. The books I read when I was starting out were different from these, but as you can see they cover various kinds of genres. And there's plenty more where these came from.

What I do know is that there are a lot of good books waiting to be discovered. Taste and see. 

Related Link

Ready or Not, Here We Are: Brian Matuszak Shares His Experience with NaNoWriMo 2018