As someone who does a lot of residential, there are many times that you can't get away with out cutting holes in the walls. Example, you are rewiring or adding receptacles. Often you can't use the old wire to pull new wire because the old is stapeled in the walls and you have fire brakes.
About all you can do is cut a hole in the wall at the fire brake to cut a hole for the new wire.

The same type of problem exists for running wire for recessed cans. However, we do have long drill bits. We will be adding cans on bothe sides of a ceiling joist. The bit is long enough to go through the joist to the next hole. Will remove the bit from the drill, tape the romex to the drill bit and pull the wire through the next hole.

Never seen any books on the subject, you just have to be resourseful.

There are bits on the market that are about 3 feet long & fairly flexible. You can use them to drill from the outlet box location if the box has not been installed.

I usually use jack chain for fishing as it is fairly strong & will go down a wall cavity that isn't insulated without much trouble. A short piece of copper wire with a hook on the end can even pull the chain into an existing box if you cut the old wire short & push it out of the box with a screwdriver.

Drilling from the attic- drill two good size holes (at least 1" diam) separated by a few inches, point a flashlight down one and look through the other to see any obstructions. If fire blocks are encountered, there are bit extensions available for both the spade bits and ship auger type bits. Aim carefully. Once through the fire block, drop a length of jack chain down the hole while looking through the other hole. With luck, you'll easily hit the hole in the fire block. I've successfully drilled down from an attic of a 2 story house to the basement (some luck was involved).

On fairly old houses, you can usually fish basement to attic by finding the plumbing stack. There are usually gaps around the vent pipe as it passes through each floor and with a little luck, you won't have to drill.

Outlet box to basement, I usually drill a 1/8th inch hole near the baseboard & shove a piece of white wire into it to help locate the wall from underneath.

My supplier was carrying a device that consisted of a very strong magnet & metal line carrier. You tied a string on the metal line carrier & shoved it into the hole you drilled in the wall cavity then the magnet was strong enough to pull the carrier along the finished wall & to the box opening. Never bought one, but the magnet was very powerful & could probably work on a plaster wall.

Also, note all the references to luck, you'll need some of that for sure.

Then there are the mid-century ranch style homes with low pitched roofs built on a slab. A lot of times you can't even get to an outside wall.

Thanks for the info guys!

In most instances I am able to figure out a way to get the wire pulled pretty productively, but I'm sure there are plenty of tricks that the more experienced electricians know about.

For example, when you need to get in the ceiling of a first floor room from a wall switch, is there any easier way than cutting a hole both in the wall and in the ceiling?

"...is there any easier way than cutting a hole both in the wall and in the ceiling?"

Depends on what is above.

Attics make things easy, but another floor of the house often ends up needing some holes.

In many cases you can just drill through the wall and the top plate with a 24 inch long ships auger bit, then fish (snaking is for clearing plumbing lines) and snag the end of a fish tape with another piece of fish tape.

Fiberglass fish rods also work well, and can often be pushed through insulated cavities better than a plain fish tape.

The flex drill bits can be bent 90 degrees and holes bored sideways from on box to another, but you need to make sure there are no obstructions (like plastic drain lines).

You can use external cable clamps to make box fill by fastening the clamp on the cable first, then pulling the cable into the box and adding the lock ring.
No one said you must fasten the clamp t the box before inserting the cable.

I get a lot of mileage by being able to make quick repairs to drywall and plaster using 20 minute setting joint compound. A rotozip cuts a 1/8 inch kerf, and you can place a piece of 1x across the opening with two drywall screws to hold the cut out piece of drywall. Another couple screws to hold the cut out piece to the 1x and some 20 minute setting compound (no tape needed) and the repair will be invisible.

That leaves the owner to touch up the paint.

You can often pop quarter round off for a few inches (even in the middle of a molding run) and use a 1/8 inch aircraft bit (8-10 inches long) to drill locator hole into the basement.
A section of white painted wire (coat hangers are a good source) is easy to spot from the basement.
The same wire is handy for locating ceiling boxes in insulated attacks.

For an existing box feed the wire between the box and wall, for a new box, location the box in the room and drill a small hole. Check for joist clearance, then use a rotozip to cut the hole in the ceiling. If you cut tight to the box outline you will not even need to fill the edges of the hole.

Wow, that's a lot of good info, thanks!!!

Couple questions. I own a Rotozip (well, it's a Dewalt brand but the same type of tool) and used it to cut out two receptacles in my own home. Right afterwards I noticed a cloud of dust in the other room where the sun was shining in. A few hours later when I finished I took a look around and found a layer of dust on EVERYTHING! Because of this I always worried about using a Rotozip in a customer's house.
Do you have this problem? Could it be the Dewalt I was using?

I usually use Sheetrock brand Easy Sand 45 minute setting compound. Normally I tell the customer that I do a "rough patch" but they will have to come back with another quick coat of spackle to smooth it out. I could never get the Easy Sand to look too good without a second coat.