Who--Me? Write Fiction? Best Books for the Aspiring Novelist

I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. But up until recently, it’s been solely nonfiction. So when I first got the bug to try writing a novel, the first thing I did was write to my fiction-writing friends and call my agent. “Am I crazy?” I asked. “Can I possibly make the switch from nonfiction to fiction? Because if you tell me it will never work, I’ll put the idea out of my head right now and just stick with what I know.” I meant it. But they all said the same thing. “If you want to write fiction, write fiction. If you can write, you can write fiction. You already know how to tell a story. Everything you need to know about telling a fictional story can be learned.” They meant it, too. And so it began. I polled my favorite authors about their favorite books on the craft, consulted Writer’s Digest for their top picks, and spent a small fortune learning how to spin a tale. So I’d like to share with you the best books I’ve found on writing fiction. (I’m sure there are more, but these are the ones in my stack so far.) In no particular order, they are:

• Getting into Character by Brandlilyn Collins
• The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
• Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
• 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them by Ronald B. Tobias
• 90 Days to Your Novel by Sarah Domet
• From First Draft to Finished Novel by Karen S. Wiesner
• Make a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld
• Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
• How to Write and Sell a Christian Novel by Gilbert Morris
• The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass
• Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King

Have you found other great books on writing fiction? If so, I’d love to hear about them.