Books that help

These would be my top 6. You should be able buy them cheaply on Amazon.

1) Aspects of the novel - E. M. Forster.

2) Politics and the English Language - George Orwell (Free online)

3) Materials and Methods of Fiction - Clayton Meeker Hamilton

4) Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor - Sol Stein

5)Solutions for Writers: Practical Craft Techniques for Fiction and Non-fiction - Sol Stein

6 Elements of Style - E B White & William Strunk Jnr

If you believe you have a firm grasp of the aspects of the novel then I would recommend that you only buy:

4) Solutions for Novelists: Secrets of a Master Editor - Sol Stein

5) Solutions for Writers: Practical Craft Techniques for Fiction and Non-fiction - Sol Stein

6) Elements of Style - E B White & William Strunk Jnr

I hope that helps.

Good luck.

Try writing short stories and post them on writing sites for people to review.

I myself started with writing fan fiction, at first I was rubbish, but the more I wrote the better I got, until I knew I was ready to write original works.

You should try here...

http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/question/view/1037

Adrian provided quite a list... but read all the other comments...

Books on "how to write" can be extremely useful - if you have a table with one short leg...

Okay - I am just a tiny bit biased. (Only a very tiny bit).

I think that you would be better off reading Winnie the Pooh and various more conventional classics...

But - the only way to ever get to writing well - is to do it... then get it looked at by others - and that is others that will give you sound feedback not indiscriminate praise - and - the really essential thing - you will need to pay attention to what you are told - you might not agree with it, you don't have to act on it - but - you should listen to it - and say "thankyou".

:-)