Very different books, both very useful in different ways. (I rarely use the word “very”, by the way.) Monkeys With Typewriters: How To Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories by Scarlett Thomas and Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman. (I read the second edition of the latter.) The Zucerkman book has a crass, off-putting title, but don’t let it put you off.
Monkeys with Typewriters, the longest writing how-to book I’ve ever seen, starts off with info on story structure, which many of us have seen before. I didn’t find that so useful, since I had absorbed that info already, though Thomas does argue with and critique earlier writers on the topic. (It also has out-of-date info as other writers, like Dan Harmon, have come up with their own story structures.) She makes the point that, even if you don’t want to write to formula, which I don’t, that it helps to find a formula to push off against. She does go on for too long about the intricacies of POV, though.
But the second part of the book has the best stuff. She goes into characterization, style, planning ,etc. She also provides exercises.
Thomas goes deep. If you follow the footnotes (the book has copious footnotes) to the back, in one particular excerpt of a lecture by her, that goes on for several pages, she talks about competing philosophies of the nature of the universe. The chapter on characterization can aid you in understand better the psychology of others and of yourself, which has benefits outside of writing.
Despite all this, she has a readable, unpretentious style. She doesn’t want to impress you with her erudition. She wants to convey knowledge and entertains as she does. (One quibble: she does mention Dickens’ Great Expectations a bit too much. Get a room!)
Zuckerman might as well come up from a different planet, as far as approach. As an agent, but not himself a writer, he wants to tell you how to write a novel that sells, and of a particular type, generally described as “an airport read” of the type which could more often get adapted into a movie or TV series. But you can ignore that intent and concentrate on the general writing craft info provided.
The good part of this book comes down to two chapters. Here, the historical novelist Ken Follett provides about half a dozen drafts of the same plot outline for The Man From St. Petersburg, up until the final one, though when writing the actual novel, he changed the plot yet again. Another chapter presents a first draft of two scenes, as contrasted with the version from the novel. Personally, I think that Folllett deserved co-writing credit as he provided the essential part of hte book.
I wouldn’t call one book better than the other, since they serve such different needs. For a beginning writer, I think that Thomas’ book has more to offer. Both books can help intermediate to advanced writers, though.