Are you a beginner or a pro blogger? No matter at which stage of your blogging journey you are at now, the struggle to come up with content that is read and shared by your readers is a Herculean task.
Well! How do I know this? It’s because I have gone through a similar journey and faced those same problems staring right at me.
Blogging is storytelling, it is similar to a movie or a book in that they tell a story. You get lost in the story word-by-word and scene-by-scene as the narrative unfolds in front of your eyes.
But there are times when you don’t find the inspiration to begin writing or struggle to develop and maintain a writing discipline and you might have already gone through a list of best books to improve your blog writing skills but you are still confused about which books to choose from.
So, how to write consistently and churn out amazing blogs that are read and shared by your readers?
Well! There are no easy answers.
But, here are 10 best books to improve your blog writing skills that helped me tackle writing hurdles and gave a new direction to my blogging journey.
Whether you are a newbie or a pro at blogging, these are must-read books to overcome writer’s block and ignite a spark into your writing.
So, Let’s dive right in.
Here’s a list of 10 Best Books To Improve Your Blog Writing Skills
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott
We all have wrong perception about how a writers life is. You don’t realize it until you try yourself to come up with something to write about, then you know that crafting magical sentences is not child’s play.
Anne Lamott, through her self-deprecating wit and wisdom, breaks the reality of a writer’s life, which has little to do with literary parties and lots to do with writer’s block and going broke with each paragraph.
Anne’s own experience with being a writer will resonate with many of who want to use their personal stories to illustrate fundamental truths about life.
On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft, by Stephen King
Whether you have read any of the King’s novel or not, you might have heard or at least seen one of the movies adapted from his bestselling books like The Shining, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption or recent one I.T.
Part memoir and part masterclass on writing, this is a must-read book for any writer out there who wants to get a practical view of a writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must-have.
King through his engaging storytelling recalls his childhood and his struggles as a writer and the things that helped him to craft thrilling novels.
Read this book, not once but many times ( I have read it two times so far) until every word is down and clear in your mind.
Zen In The Art Of Writing, by Ray Bradbury
Author of the iconic FAHRENHEIT 451, THE ILLUSTRATED MAN and THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, Ray Bradbury, offers a vivid and exuberant insight into the craft of writing.
The book is a collection of essays which vividly paints the life of a writer and the qualities every writer must possess. From finding the right inspiration to begin your writing journey to developing your ideas and style, the book gives has everything for a would-be writer.
ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING offers a celebration of the act of writing that will delight, impassion, and inspire you to find your own voice and style of writing.
On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser
Blog writing is mostly concerned with non-fiction writing, whether you write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself, On Writing Well offers you fundamental principles as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher.
Zinsser lays down the mechanics, structure and thinking with such clarity that his principles are equally sound for today’s bloggers, fiction and non-fiction writers and any kind of digital publisher.
If you decide that you are going to read only one book on improving your writing skills, then make it this one.
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide To Creating Ridiculously Good Content, by Ann Handley
With millions of blogs posted on the internet every day standing out from the rest of the crowd has become a mammoth undertaking.
Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes is the best go-to guide for content creators to take their content to a level of awesomeness.
From bloggers to social media influencers Ann shows you how to write beautifully crafted sentences with economy and the style and honest empathy for your online customers.
This isn’t just a go-to guide on how to write, it’ll also help you to figure out what to write?
Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies For Every Writer, by Roy Peter Clark
For every aspiring writer out there- whether you are writing a novel, a technical report or a blog, Roy Peter Clark, a respected scholar pulls back curtain on the art.
Writing tools is a compilation of 30 years of Roy’s experience as a writer, journalist and a teacher written in the form of fifty small essays on different aspects of writing.
How to make your writing more elegant and evocative? Which power words to use to attract more eyeballs? Roy has demonstrated the use of every tool with journalistic examples.
Accessible, entertaining, inspiring, and above all, useful for every type of writer, from high school student to novelist, Writing Tools is essential reading.
The Sense Of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide To Writing in the 21st Century, by Steven Pinker
A cognitive scientist and dictionary consultant, Steven Pinker’s The Sense Of Style is a definitive guide on writing for the readers of the 21st century.
Pinker talks, in brief, the effect of social media and texting on the English language. Modern readers need modern writing but recent developments in the language have made it dull and gruesome.
Pinker teaches you how to break the conventional rules of writing when your writing doesn’t make any sense.
The Sense of Style is for all kinds of writers and readers who are eager to learn the science behind writing and want writing to be a pleasurable task.
How to Make a Living with Your Writing: Books, Blogging and More, by Joanna Penn
‘Yes, it is possible! We are living in the best time ever to make a living with your writing’, these are the first two sentences the book begins with.
Many of you would relate to every bit of Joanna’s story, of her struggle to find her inner creativity while grinding through her daily work as a consultant.
‘How To Make a Living with Your Writing’, is not just a book on how to write awesome blogs but the author’s own journey as a consultant to a successful blogger and bestselling author will motivate you to go the extra mile in your blogging journey.
You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One), by Jeff Goins
Admit it. Sometimes it’s just pain in the butt to promote your content out there which you have so painstakingly put your effort on.
Jeff Goins in You are a Writer shares his own story of self-doubt and what it took him to become a successful writer/blogger. A short but comprehensive guide on what it takes to be a writer in the 21st century.
You are a writer, isn’t so much a book about the art of writing as it is about how getting your hard work noticed. If you are somebody who wants to build your own platform and succeed at it then this is the book for you.
CA$HVERTISING: How to Use More than 100 Secrets of Ad-Agency Psychology to Make Big Money Selling Anything to Anyone by Drew Eric Whitman
‘Cashvertising’, I know that the name sounds a bit cheesy! but believe me, this is probably the best book that I’ve read on how simple tweaks make a big impression.
Written by advertisement expert Drew Eric Whitman (a.k.a Dr Direct), Cashvertising teaches you the same advertising techniques that big companies use to allure people into buying things.
From teaching how to use emotional words to which font size and colours to choose from, Whitman takes you on a roller-coaster ride through the world of advertisement to help you learn the art of persuasion through writing.
Bottom Line
To be a good writer, you have to be a good reader and a listener first.
A writer’s education is never complete. The art of writing is a lifelong learning curve, the more you read and listen the more you write. The best way to get better at writing is to write as much as you can about any idea that comes to your mind.
So, which book should you grab first?
For absolute beginners– Grab How To Make Living With your blogging, You are a writer or Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies For Every Writer
For intermediate writers– Choose The Sense Of Style or Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide To Creating Ridiculously Good Content
For competent writers- Pick up Bird by Bird, On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft or Zen In The Art Of Writing, by Ray Bradbury
So, grab your copy and start reading.
Let me know in the comments if I have missed something on this list and which books you have read to improve your blog writing skills?
Also read: 10 Must-Read Books To Curb Mind Wandering and Improve Concentration
Good! Keep it up. Bless you!
Thank you for reading and your appreciation. Bless you, too!