6 Books You’ll Need If You’re Thinking Of Writing A Novel Or Memoir

Everyone has at least one book in them—or that’s what they say anyway. I just think the idea of writing an entire book can be uber-intimidating and downright scary, to say the least. But it doesn’t have to be. Over the last five-plus years, writing took me down a very long and windy road before completing my second finished manuscript and signing with my second literary agent. But you don’t have to be a nomad on an endless stretch of road. If you want to write a novel or memoir, you’ll need these books.

I can’t tell you how many questions I get about writing—way more than decorating. And I can honestly say I like talking about the writing process more than decorating. It sort of feels like writing is my second season of creativity. And there is so much I’ve learned along the way that it’s hard not to want to talk about it. I opened my very first attempt at my first draft recently, and I couldn’t believe how much I had grown as a writer. With every rejection that came with my first book, champagne (the nicer kind) or not, I took their feedback and pressed on. Much of the feedback from editors and agents said, “Keep honing your craft.” When you are curious and love writing, there is no other option. So that’s what I did.

Every story has a structure and rules that most writers follow, such as show, don’t tell. If you want to write a novel or memoir, these things are imperative to the success of your story. I had ZERO clue when I first began. I can laugh about it now, but I wish someone told me back then about these books; I would have saved so much time. But as my dad would remind me often, “Jennifer, you always have to learn things the hard way.” And he was most certainly right.

The Emotional Thesaurus// Save The Cat!

The Story Grid// The Conflict Thesaurus

The Trope Thesaurus// The Story Genius

This post contains affiliate links.

If you have any questions, please leave them in comments.

Have a happy day, friend!