Creative Writing
Find advice and inspiration for your writing with this list of of books about the craft of writing created by librarians at The Seattle Public Library. (February 2026)
-
Write Yourself Out of A Corner
In this creative writing guide, longtime teacher and novelist Alice LaPlante shares 100 original exercises that will simultaneously push you into a corner and give you the tools to write yourself out of it. Whether you are looking to jumpstart new ideas or find a fresh angle on a work in progress... Write Yourself Out of a Corner will strengthen your imagination and your craft. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Write Yourself Out of A Corner -
Finger Exercises for Poets
Poet Laux sets forth an edifying meditation on the craft of poetry. Each chapter highlights a literary technique used by a well-known author and provides exercises helping readers incorporate them into their own work. Aspiring poets would do well to check this out. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View Finger Exercises for Poets -
Letters to A Writer of Color
In this impressive collection, Anappara and Soomro bring together deeply personal essays from authors of color on the craft of writing. The selections interrogate the ways in which the "tenets of good writing" privilege "a Western perspective," and they consider what alternative approaches to fiction grounded in the experiences of people of color might look like. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Letters to A Writer of Color -
Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird
Henry Lien makes the pathbreaking argument that diversity ... can - and should - encompass diverse structures, themes, and values. He introduces the East Asian four-act structure (kishotenketsu), as well as circular and nested structures, and explains how Eastern value systems such as collectivism can dictate form. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird -
A Long Game
Story Prize winner McCracken distills decades of personal experience into 280 idiosyncratic reflections on writing. Writers who feel stuck will be especially energized by McCracken's eclectic insights. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View A Long Game -
The Happy Writer
Applicable to writers in all genres and disciplines - from screenwriters to novelists, journalists to picture book authors, aspiring to many-times published - The Happy Writer is a heartfelt and optimistic guide that will show you the way to a happier writing journey. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View The Happy Writer -
How to Write Romantasy
This writing guide by Michael Moreci provides a step-by-step approach to creating romantasy novels, from initial concept to final resolution. Organized by plot points and writing techniques, it addresses topics such as integrating romance with fantasy elements, developing characters, building chemistry, and structuring stories within a series. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View How to Write Romantasy -
Dear Writer
Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. Each element is explored through short, inspiring, and craft-focused essays, followed by generative writing prompts. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Dear Writer -
How to Draw A Novel
Novelist Solares shares in these inventive and rewardingly off-kilter essays his idiosyncratic perspective on writing fiction. It adds up to an audacious and unique consideration of the art of the novel. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View How to Draw A Novel -
Writing An Identity Not your Own
Novelist Temblador, who identifies as mixed Latine, delivers a valuable handbook explaining how authors can responsibly write characters whose abilities, class, gender, race, or sexuality differ from their own. This thoughtful guide brings clarity to a fraught topic. (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Writing An Identity Not your Own