Writing Book Recommendations

The Elements of Style

Written in 1918, revised in 1935, still the best book on writing there is. Often assigned to college students en masse and can be found in used book stores everywhere.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

Half auto biography, half about writing. Oddly I like King's storytelling here more than I do any of his novels.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction

Primer on writing articles and essays. Useful for jounralists and bloggers alike.

The War of Art

Learn how to overcome internal Resistance and get work done on your craft. More about the internal stuggle of writing than about writing itself.

Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style

About developing a style as an author. Useful for understanding the rhythm that makes writing like This sentence has five words so powerful.

The Associated Press Stylebook

Reference book, not for reading. Helpful for answering questions about styling of modern words you may not find in a dictionary. Also includes guidance for writing about certain topics, for example, "how to turn earnings reports into a story." When I managed a content team this was frequently used to settle debates.

Also, the best inspiration is reading writing that you aspire to be like, whoever or whatever that is.