Litopia Writers’ Reading List 2024
Peter Cox, founder of Litopia
I asked our members a simple question.
Which books have had the most profound impact on your development as a writer?
Here’s what they told me. A glorious cornucopia of more than forty definitive titles that ought to be on your reading list.
And note: if you buy them all (why not?) it will still be cheaper than taking one average-priced commercial writing course.
We’ve all enjoyed putting this list together, and we hope you get as much out of it as we have.
Peter Cox
The Positive Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman And Becca Puglisi
Our Summary
Lists character traits to help you generate different types of characters and how these traits might manifest. Useful in conjunction with The Negative Trait Thesaurus by the same authors.
What I learned From It
Helped me to write characters with more depth and think of a wider range of character types for my books.
Claire G
[maxbutton id="1" url="https://amzn.to/46vt085" ]
[maxbutton id="2" url="https://amzn.to/3sLx3iK" ]
Techniques Of The Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain
Our Summary
First published in 1965, Swain's book is a no-nonsense, broad-brush instruction manual for beginners that shows you how to construct a commercial story.
What I learned From It
The basic shape of commercial fiction (and how unchanging that shape has been for more than half a century). Every other writing manual I've ever read has felt like a retelling or offshoot of this book.
Rich.
[maxbutton id="1" url="https://amzn.to/47nnrtN" ]
[maxbutton id="2" url="https://amzn.to/49MnEbr" ]
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
Our Summary
It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite.
What I learned From It
The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think).
AnnieSummerlee
[maxbutton id="1" url="https://amzn.to/40SCokV" ]
[maxbutton id="2" url="https://amzn.to/3Rm3AFP" ]
Basic Membership Is Free.
Basic membership is sufficient for many writers.
Benefit from unlimited access to the Writing Lab for critiques using the Litopia® Method… Start your own writer’s blog on our powerful platform… And of course, maximum support from the oldest and friendliest community for writers on the ‘net.
Full Membership Is Only $149.95 For An Entire Year
Everything in Basic Membership plus unlimited access to all our writing seminars and unlimited access to our weekly live Writers’ Huddles for personal mentoring & coaching.