For more general writing books, see here
Structural writing books
Jessica Brody: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
Had to mention this one. Save the Cat! started as a book for screenwriters and then years later was re-written to focus on novel writing. What this book does amazingly well is lay out the general ‘beats’ of the basic three-act structure. Which for a beginning writer is invaluable. Along the way, Brody gives examples of mainstream books which follow these beats. Super helpful to see famous examples and how this structure really works. There is a method underlying all of it.
Using the method in this book will allow anyone to plot a novel in a simple, easy-to-follow manner and ensure you’re thinking about the protagonist’s character arc, the B-story characters, etc. While some may find it a little restrictive, it is a great place to start and build a base when you’re getting into the craft of writing. On a personal note, I used this book to plot the beats of my third novel whited helped me complete it faster than any previous book I’d written. Your mileage may vary.
John Yorke: Into the Woods
If Saves the Cat is the approachable version of getting to the weeds of act structure, then Into the Woods is the deep dive. Yorke presents the analysis through a five-act story but ultimately shows how three, five, or seven acts, adhere to the underlying conventions of storytelling. He does this through a myriad of examples, mostly from films, to ensure approachability for readers.
Whereas Save the Cat! is all about structure and beats, Into the Woods focuses more on the holistic virtues of what elements make up a great story. With these in mind, any author can then choose how to riff on these to tell the story that’s within them.
While this one is not a nightstand read, it’s one I’ve come back to several times as I’ve grown in my writing to better understand the various aspects of the craft.
Lisa Cron: Story Genius
This one came via a suggestion by Delilah S. Dawson. The thesis of Story Genius is that everything within a story should touch what Cron dubs “the third rail”. Her explanation of the third rail is the protagonist’s internal struggle and ultimately the thing they will (or won’t) overcome by the end of the book.
Cron covers the physiology of her method, why readers connect with it, and how to use this to build an outline. Not going to lie, it’s a rigorous method. While Cron does a masterful job of breaking it into bite-sized ‘homework’ there are many times where the next bit of work might take a day or a couple of weeks. There are times when you set this book down because the next exercise is going to take A LOT of pondering. This happened to me and as someone who doesn’t normally outline, I risked getting derailed.
This book is not going to be for everyone and some writers will most likely actively rail against it. However, it’s worth a read (even if you don’t do the exercises) to help you plan out scenes and WHY the scenes need to exist. Cron is hyper-focused on ensuring each scene connects to the story, what it adds, and how it moves the MC forward. In this way, it helped me conceptualize not only how a story moves along, but why it moves along. The biggest takeaway for me has been in defining what my characters want going into each scene, and then what either prevents them from getting it or if they get it, why that then affects what comes next. That’s the gold of this book, drilling into cause and effect and how it all stems back to your character’s internal struggles and worldview.