There are a couple books on writing that I make a point of rereading at least once every year. It’s not that I don’t retain the information, but I like to bring it out of whichever neurons it’s been hiding in when I get stuck in my fiction writing (I’m also finding it useful for book reviewing, which is something I hadn’t thought of until I started reviewing books). Usually I do this rereading over the summer, but it didn’t get done this year, which explains why I’m having trouble with my current project, which was supposed to coincide with NaNoWriMo, but I wasn’t prepared in time so I’m shifting it to mid-November to mid-December (or so I tell myself).

In any case, books on writing fiction are useful not only for writers, but for anyone who has to analyze fiction (or survive English 101, which I managed to put off until my thirties). The book that I read before revising drafts is Between the Lines: Mastering the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing, which I have already reviewed (I will update that sparse review the next time I reread that book). The book that I reread before starting a project (or, ideally when looking for story ideas) is 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them by Ronald B. Tobias.

As I was rereading it this year, I started thinking that it was a really good book for book reviewers to read (and English majors, I suspect, though I have no first-hand experience with that). People who read a lot develop an intuitive understanding of what makes a good book. It’s like art, “I know it when I see it.” That’s all well and good, but if I tell you it’s a good book or a bad book because that’s how I feel then it doesn’t do you much good in judging whether it’s a book you want to pick up or not.

20 Master Plots is useful because not only does it define what each type of plot is (including plots of mind, or character-focused plots), but it also lists the major phases or elements of each plot. It explains the plot focus (action, character, or situation) and what differentiates similar plots. Each chapter is a separate plot with examples of well-known works that typify each plot as well as advice on how to construct that plot type.

I find 20 Master Plots useful as a writer, but also as a reader. If I find a book unsatisfying and can’t put my finger on why, then I can look up the plot type and see if I can spot which element is missing or poorly executed or what-have-you in that novel. Often I know it intuitively, but need to figure out how to explain myself in a way that readers will find useful.

If you write fiction and need inspiration for a plot or help with the mechanics, this is a useful reference to have. If you analyze stories, you might find 20 Master Plots useful as a plain English guide to various plots and their typical components.