The St. Martin's Guide to Writing, by Rise Axelrod and Charles Cooper, is an excellent, all-purpose escort through the intricacy of giving shape to writing. In its commonsense and introductory manner, it is much like those wonderful Time-Life guides to ordinary household tasks such as hanging wallpaper: one step at a time, using clear illustrations, Axelrod and Cooper explain how to cope with even the tricky parts, such as working around corners or windows.
Although as patient and analytical thinkers we might figure out these challenges for ourselves, books like this one ...