Way back when I was more earnestly learning the craft of writing, I was reading through several different books on writing fiction. Almost immediately, I felt that I was reading the same book over and over again. It was if they were all cribbing from the same set of Cliff Notes. Show don’t tell. Give your characters a distinctive trait.
Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers was different, both philosophical and practical. Academic and grounded. Finally, a guide to writing that went beyond storytelling abstractions or superficial suggestions on character development, plotting, point of view, and themes.