Caroline Bishop has the following recommendations:
Stephen King: On Writing
(King’s autobiography with an excellent chapter on how he writes)
(King’s autobiography with an excellent chapter on how he writes)
John Yorke: Into The Woods
(THE book on crafting story)
(THE book on crafting story)
I’ve read and loved these novels this year, mainly since they have such brilliant characters, which is for me what makes a story:
Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins
A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
The Other Half of Augusta Hope by Joanna Glen
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
I adore anything by Maggie O Farrell for the same reason (her memoir I Am, I Am, I Am is in effect a set of short stories)
William Boyd’s Any Human Heart is an all time favourite.
In terms of short stories, this anthology, Afraid of the Light, has some good ones: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B087C5T4WD
I would also recommend the Curtis Brown Creative blog which often features interview with authors talking about how they wrote their novels and how they got published: https://www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/blog/
