A fellow BC member recommended Debra Dixon's book GMC (Goal, Motivation & Conflict) to me recently and I just wanted to post here to say it is phenomenal! This book will especially appeal to someone who has a background in writing, but is new to fiction (like myself!).

I have also found a book by Tom Chiarella called Writing Dialog to be particularly useful in crafting more natural dialog. 

So, what are your favorite books on craft? 

Hey Julie!

Right now I'm at the end of Cheryl St. John's "Writing With Emotion, Tension, and Conflict." So far I think she's done a good job explaining things. She even gives little assignments at the end of each chapter. She also recommends picking up books on craft by Dwight V. Swain.

~~Calico~~

Debra Dixon recommended Dwight Swain too, so I just started reading Techniques of the Selling Writer. So far it seems promising. I was put off in the first chapter by his somewhat antiquated tone, but I suppose some allowance needs to be made for it having been first published in 1965. By the second chapter, I was hooked and used to his style...

I added Cheryl St. John to my wish list too--thanks!

I just found a book on writing called "The Elements Of Style; 3rd Edition" by William Struck Jr. and E.B. White.  Published in 1979  ISBNs 0-02-418190-0 or 0-02-418200-1 for the paperback version.  Its a short book a mere 92 pages long.  And has had editions released as late as 2009 a quick on-line search reveals.

Flipping through it some of it seems quite sound.  Two quotes from the book are;

"No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more then this persistent little volume." The Boston Globe, &

"The work remains a nonpareil: direct, correct, and delightful." The New Yorker.

Finding a 35 year old book is nothing in my house I have books dating back to early 1900s, a couple might be older then that.