A "cottage industry" of books written by writers for writers populates the shelves of bookstores. The sheer number of choices can be overwhelming. Here are my growing collections of notes on some of the works I have read, the tips and links I’ve found useful, and tools to help you send your writing out into the world.
Writing Resources
Links to listings for books on Amazon are provided on the pages below so that you can easily find reviews and summaries by editors and readers; these links do not imply an endorsement of purchasing through online vendors. The lists are neither exhaustive nor complete - simply a brief summary of what I've found useful in getting started.
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The Writing Life
Clearly, this is not the place to come for instant advice on how to complete your memoir project by next week's deadline. However, if you do find yourself drawn into the process of writing, reading about other authors' approaches can be inspirational. Plus, learning about their crises (some of which will feel awfully familiar) will make you feel less alone.
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General Writing Guides
Some books listed here are geared towards nonfiction writing, some are explicitly addressed to fiction writers. Even if you are a memoirist, you’ll probably want to learn from the fiction writers about how to bend your story to an arc and what keeps readers riveted to the page.
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Memoir Writing Guides
A few books that specifically address the “why”,” how”, and “why not” of writing about your own life.
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Submission Tools
You've written that great plant poem, botanical story, essay or memoir--now what? Here are tools that helped me to build a habit of submitting to literary magazines and resources for planning out a book and submitting manuscripts to agents or publishers.