Six Books to Help You Rewrite, Revise & Edit
A half dozen books that will help you take your manuscript to the next level.
These are the books I recommend time and again to writers who are ready to revise their manuscripts. I often recommend them to writers who aren’t yet ready to revise because they’re filled with wisdom that will help you write a better first draft too.
Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book
by Allison K. Williams
Why I love it: This book gives it to you straight, and I love how detailed and how generous it is. I’d recommend this book to a writer who is looking for step-by-step guidance that will make their work less difficult and more fruitful. The book is broken up into seven drafts, and each draft is broken up into a checklist of the things a writer should look for and accomplish in that draft. For example, in “The Technical Draft,” Williams discusses things like word count, voice, point of view, and pacing. I love that Williams simplifies but doesn’t sugarcoat the process of rewriting and revision. She’s here to help you take your book to the next level, and the next level, and the next.
The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself by Susan Bell
Why I love it: It’s been a while since I read this one, but it has stuck with me. The things I remember loving about this book are (1) Bell’s admonitions to take breaks from your manuscript in between rounds of edits, to let the manuscript simmer; (2) her encouragement; and (3) most of all, the way she weaves the story of F. Scott Fitgerald’s lengthy revision process and his extensive work with his editor on The Great Gatsby throughout her book—a reminder that we all start out with a messy first draft and that the magic happens during rewriting and revision.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King
Why I love it: I love this book for different reasons than I love The Artful Edit, so I don’t think it’s a choice between one or the other. This book offers more practical craft advice on things like dialogue, dialect, point of view, showing versus telling, and finding a balance between narrative prose and scenes with dialogue. I’d recommend this book to any writer, but I think it will be especially helpful to a new writer who is struggling to understand some of these concepts.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
Why I love it: This little book, first published in 1918, is still considered one of the most influentual nonfiction English-language books written in the last 100 years. The fourth edition was published in 1999. Since then, an illustrated edition (2005) and a fiftieth anniversary edition (2009) have been published, both including the text of the fourth edition. What I love about this book is how simple and easy to understand it is and also how navigable it is—it’s so easy to find what you’re looking for. Good news: Because it’s so old, it’s available in the public domain. Bad news: Because it’s so old, some of its advice is now considered anachronistic, and it hasn’t been updated in 25 years. Writers like Stephen King still recommend it, though. It’s often the first place I start, because the basics of spelling, punctuation, and grammar haven’t changed much over the years. But the caveat is that I need to then make sure the information I find is still current, because the way readers read and the way writers write have changed over the past 100 years, and language usage has evolved a lot. And that’s when I turn to the next two books in this list.
“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second-greatest
favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style.
The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they're happy.”
—Dorothy Parker
Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer
Why I love it: This book is quickly replacing The Elements of Style as the go-to grammar guide for writers who not only want to make sure their prose is correct but pleasurable to read. Dreyer is the vice president, executive managing editor, and copy chief of Random House. His sense of humor is endearing, and his level of knowledge is impressive. The combination is fire. The book is contemporary, easy to read, and a delight. Plus, I’m always here for a little snark.
The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider
Why I love it: This is the first copyediting guide focused exclusively on fiction. I love The Chicago Manual of Style too, but as its detractors point out, it’s geared primarily to nonfiction. If you’re writing a book or submitting fiction or creative nonfiction to literary journals, most of them will follow “Chicago Style,” so you’ll want to be super familiar with it. But I’ve had essays published in markets like the Los Angeles Times—because it’s a newspaper, it follows “AP Style.” It’s a distinction to be aware of. The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction is marketed as a companion to The Chicago Manual of Style, and I agree a writer of fiction, memoir, or creative nonfiction should be familiar with both. The Chicago Manual of Style is a big, thick book, thoroughly indexed, where you can find the answer to any style question you may have. But with The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction, Schneider “focuses on the copyediting tasks specific to fiction—such as tracking the details of fictional characters, places, and events to ensure continuity across the work—and provides a slew of sharp, practicable solutions drawn from her twenty-five years of experience working for publishers both large and small.” I’ve had the privilege of attending an online workshop with Schneider through the Editorial Freelancers Association, and she really knows her stuff.
NOTE: Here’s a great place to point out just one distinction between Chicago Style and AP Style, so you can see what kinds of things might vary—notice there is no space before or after the em dash in the above paragraph, which conforms to Chicago Style. If I was writing this in AP Style, there would be a space — like so — because that’s what AP Style calls for.