Writing

A classic writing guide, drawn from Lamott’s own experience as a novelist and teacher. The title comes from her father’s advice to her brother, who was overwhelmed by a school project on birds, to take it “bird by bird,” a metaphor for breaking big, intimidating tasks into manageable steps.

Stephen King blends the story of his life with practical advice for writers at any stage. King shares the formative experiences that shaped his career, then distills decades of work into clear guidance on the craft, covering everything from habits and discipline to vocabulary, pacing, and revision. He also offers blunt, memorable principles (“the adverb is not your friend”) and stresses the importance of reading widely.

Some of my earliest and most helpful tools for improving as a writer, like “writing with scissors,” came from Palahniuk. This book is a mix of memoir, writing advice, and behind-the-scenes stories. Palahniuk shares lessons learned from his years of publishing, covering everything from generating ideas and building scenes to working with editors and navigating the business side of writing, interspersed with personal anecdotes that are often as strange as his fiction.

Another recommendation from Brad Scott of the Atlanta Braves, this is a concise guide to communicating clearly and efficiently, written by the co-founders of Axios and Politico. Drawing on their newsroom experience, VandeHei, Allen, and Schwartz lay out the “Smart Brevity” formula for cutting through information overload by using short, direct writing, clear structure, and intentional formatting to get ideas across quickly without sacrificing substance.