I collect books about writing. I have at this point over 120 different titles on the subject, many in digital form, many in hard copy. Some of them are more useful than others, some of them are more entertaining than others, some of them I like better than others, each and everyone contains at least a little nugget of something that (I hope) helped me get better at the craft.
I don’t think you can learn everything from a handbook, but maybe from a few dozens of them you’ll get enough tools to put together your own toolbox.

This morning I learned about the Humble Book Bundle “Write like a Writer”, and I happily shelled out 80 eurocents for the basic tier of the offer. The basic level includes a book I already own and that I highly recommend, The Tao of Writing, by Ralph L. Wahlstrom. This title alone is worth the expense. The rest is a selection of interesting How To books covering a few topics I am not very familiar with (like screenwriting) and a few I am familiar with (like writing non-fiction) that might still improve with the addition of new information.

Anyone willing to pay the full 15 bucks for the complete set will end up with 26 writing handbooks, and at that point they’ll have to chose whether to read or to write, but that’s always the problem, isn’t it?

Part of the money spent on the bundle goes to the National Coalition Against Censorship, and I think that’s a good thing, too.

The offer lasts two weeks. Check it out.