Recommendations

Mine and other people’s. Feel free to add more in comments.

Craft

Browne & King – Self Editing for Fiction Writers – craft book on structure and composition

Carroll, Peter J. – Liber KKK – real world magic structures

Edelstein, Linda – Writer’s Guide to Character Traits – analysis of personality types, behavioural patterns, triggers etc.

Edgerton, Les – Hooked – craft book on writing gripping openings

Machiavelli – The Prince – society-building guidelines

Marks, Dara – Inside Story: the Power of the Transformational Arc – how to use the heroic journey to create structure

Navarro, Joe – What Every Body Is Saying – book on body language

Pinker, Steven – The Language Instinct – the relationship between language and thought

Scott Bell, James – Plot & Structure – craft book on… well, plot and structure

Scott Card, Orson – How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy – craft book dealing with issues specific to genre fiction

Vogler, Christopher – The Writer’s Journey – craft book looking at original mythic principles and story templates

Wynne, Douglas – The Crime Writer’s Hand Book – the symptoms and methods for 100+ ways to kill characters

Infographic – How to use the Harvard reference system – useful for bibliographies

 

Fiction

Baker, Keith – D&D’s Eberron – combining magic and technology

Buchan, John – John MacNab – using ‘filler’ text to build up personalities and motivations

Duncan, Hal – Vellum – unique construction with multiple POVs

Gavriel Kay, Guy – The Lions of Al-Rassan – religious structure in genre that is questionable rather than absolute

Gavriel Kay, Guy – Under Heaven & River of Stars – using Chinese history and literature in world-building

Gunn, Neil M. – The Silver Darlings – mixing languages in dialogue

Kapuscinski, Ryszard – The Emperor – details of a decadent imperial court

Le Guin, Ursula – The Other Wind – women in traditional magic systems

Lynch, Scott – Lies of Locke Lamora – world building whilst resisting the urge to explain

Martin, George R.R. – Game of Thrones – writing about war without excessive battle descriptions

May, Julian – Galactic Milieu – theological exploration in a sci-fi setting

Morgenstern, Erin – The Night Circus – non-linear structure

Russell, Mary Doria – The Sparrow – jumping between past and present perspectives throughout the story

Zettel, Sarah – Isavalta series (Bk. 1 Sorcerer’s Treason) – using Russian and Chinese mythology in magic and world-building