I recommend Tim Waggoner’s book Writing In The Dark for anyone delving into horror fiction. It just came out last year and covers a lot of great information specific to the genre as well as writing in general. Here is my full review on Horror Oasis: https://horroroasis.com/writing-in-the-dark-by-tim-waggoner/

Update: At the time of my review Tim’s book was on the preliminary ballot for The Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction, but he is now a Finalist for Award. He also has an article that is a finalist for The Bram Stoker for Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction, which was featured in November 2020 issue of The Writer, and you can read it on their website: https://www.writermag.com/improve-your-writing/fiction/beginner-horror-writer/

There’s a workbook under development for Writing In The Dark, so look for that in the future.

Tim also just published a novel with Flame Tree Press, Your Turn To Suffer. Here’s the blurb for that: “Lorelai Palumbo is harassed by a sinister group calling themselves The Cabal. They accuse her of having committed unspeakable crimes in the past, and now she must pay. The Cabal begins taking her life apart one piece at a time – her job, her health, the people she loves – and she must try to figure out what The Cabal thinks she’s done if she’s to have any hope of answering their charges and salvaging her life.”

Also: There is a 3-day writer’s symposium this weekend (March 26-28, 2021).

The link and all of the information to register for the symposium is: https://hopin.com/events/writing-in-the-dark-spring-edition?fbclid=IwAR3R0jVQIUJ11k6HWAYoxAWzk__1JPbPHgmYbW6xa-QcLRphx7pAL33kZ78

Tim Waggoner has a great blog which you should also check out, and consider subscribing to: http://writinginthedarktw.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend Description for anyone wanting to delve deeper into writing description. The most important thing that Wood discussed among these pages is showing vs. telling, putting that debate to rest once and for all. She shows the reader several different ways in which the same passage can be written in full narrative, full dialogue, and a blend of both. There are a number of writers who have a showing or telling style that they employ that is their own, and the trick is to figure out your own balance as it relates to the story you’re trying to tell.

This book is packed with several examples of how to write better description – including how to use more relevant description and to edit out the slower, less relevant writing. I found the contents of Description to be useful in constructing unique people, environments, and actions.

John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller will potentially change your life. You need this book, if you haven’t read it yet! His surgically precise analysis of story cuts deeper than what you would normally find in any other how-to writing book on the market. His industry knowledge will forever change the concept of three-act structure for the reader, and offer you 22 steps to a more masterful story. My copy of this book is underlined to death. Initially I found this mentioned in a conversation about screenwriting, but my thought was that anything which works for the screen can also potentially work for a novel. With a short story, as he mentions, you may not run through all 22 steps he lays out, but you may hit on the first 7 at least. Outside of his 22 steps, there’s a lot of other interesting concepts and analysis mentioned throughout the book that might activate your creativity in some new way.

Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is such an important book for any horror novelist or writer in general to read. It is part autobiography, part writer’s guide. In his book King discusses the importance of making writing a daily habit as well as the grind every author will go through with both failures and success. His is an amazing struggle-to-success story. Kings writing style is more intuitive, and his books tend to be based on situation rather than story. King says, “I want to put a group of characters in some sort of predicament and then watch them try to work themselves free.” He never places demands on his characters. This book covers an array of information and insight that I think any writer would find useful.