book on writing

[alanna]

So...does anyone know any ones they found particularly enjoyable/helpful? I read Annie Dillard's A Writing Life for a creative writing class and loved it; however, I don't know of any other books that are reccomended by writers. Care to share?

[scribbler1382]

On Becoming A Novelist by John Gardner
Telling Lies For Fun And Profit by Lawrence Block

And one of my favorites (and one of the hardest to find) Writing Popular Fiction by Dean Koontz.

[hpoppink]

A personal favorite, for the humor as much as understanding her specific technique: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

[katiemac]

Someone's bound to mention it, so I suppose I will.

On Writing by Stephen King.

[Vomaxx]

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Renni Browne & David King) is very useful.

[sunandshadow]

Aristotle, Poetics
Simon O. Lesser, Fiction and the Unconscious
Cynthia Joyce Clay, Vector Theory and the Plot Structures of Literature and Drama
Ursula Verena Schwartz, Young Children’s Dyadic Pretend Play: A Communication Analysis of Plot Structure and Plot Generative Strategies
Thomas G. Pavel, The Poetics of Plot: The Case of English Renaissance Drama
Melanie Anne Philips and John Huntley, Dramatica: A New Theory of Story
Armando Mora, Dramatica For Screenwriters

[zornhau]

This one keeps coming up, so I'll just repost what I usually say:


Most books are of dubious utility, especially those not written by professional writers, editors or agents. These are the ones I have found useful:

***“Techniques of the Selling Writer” Dwight Swain
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806111917/qid=1092309558/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_11_4/202-8852299-9557438 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806111917/qid=1092309558/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_11_4/202-8852299-9557438)
An old book, recommended to me by Janny Wurtz. Basically it’s Pulp Writing 101. Covers everything, from extreme basics to advanced. Swain was a very successful mid 20th century pulp writer.

***“Writing the Breakout Novel: Winning Advice from a Top Agent and His Best-selling Client “ Anne Perry (Foreword), Donald Maass
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/158297182X/qid=1092309671/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/202-8852299-9557438 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/158297182X/qid=1092309671/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/202-8852299-9557438)
Not so much about writing as about writing books that really do sell, and about managing your career.

***“How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy” Orson Scott Card
Successful SF writer on writing, genres, getting published etc.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/158297103X/qid=1092309774/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_19_4/202-8852299-9557438 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/158297103X/qid=1092309774/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_19_4/202-8852299-9557438)


"Story" Robert McKee
Mainly about scriptwriting but still very useful. (NB Novels have more than 3 acts.)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0413715604/pd_ka_0/202-8852299-9557438 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0413715604/pd_ka_0/202-8852299-9557438)


Other resources here:http://www.livejournal.com/users/zornhau/971.html

[KTC]

People tend to put this one down, but I enjoyed Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. I also enjoyed Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and Stephen King's On Writing.

One I could suggest that a friend wrote. I loved it. Dorothea Helms >>> http://thewritingfairy.com/ (Click on Guide to Calling Yourself a Writer)

[alanna]

Thanks you guys! This definitely gives me something to work with! I'm going to the library.... :snoopy:

[Christine N.]

I'm with Vomaxx - Self Editing is wonderful, especially if you've already got the mechanics of character and story down.

I still haven't read On Writing. I'll have to pick it up on my next trip to B&N

[Carlene]

How about "GMC, Goal, Motivation & Conflict" by Debra Dixon or "The Artist Way" by Julia Cameron. Oh, for characters, "Heroes & Heroines" by Tami Cowden.

[JerseyGirl1962]

"Writing the Breakout Novel: Winning Advice from a Top Agent and His Best-selling Client" Anne Perry (Foreword), Donald Maass

The novel I'm writing was bland, and I was searching for ideas to move it along and read better, when I read this book. Just one of his ideas has made my novel better (I think).

"Word Magic" Cindy Rogers

This is one I'm currently going through, and it's helped me use more colorful words and phrases where need be. It has writing exercises and gives plenty of examples that show what the Ms. Rogers' is referring to.

"Characters and Viewpoint" Orson Scott Card

I tend to have problems with POV, so I picked this up, and I still refer to it whenever I need a refresher. Some will point out he uses the same names in his examples throughout the book (he doesn't list examples from other writers), but that didn't faze me, and his own examples are good at understanding POV.

That's all I can think of at the moment, although I'm sure there are others I've forgotten. :)

~Nancy

[sassandgroove]

I learned about writing from Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print By Lawrence Block than I did from all my writing teachers combined. I went from a few (try several) false starts to an almost complete rough draft. Another big help with writing and life was Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

Thanks for the thread, I am going to check some these others out!

[Button]

I have Techniques of the Selling Writer, Scenes and Sequels by Bickman and I just got a new one, the Fiction Writer's Silent Partner? Found it in a used book store for 50 cents.

I've read On Writing, Bird by Bird. There were a lot I liked at the local library. :)

[alanna]

These are great you guys! Thanks so much :)

[aruna]

So...does anyone know any ones they found particularly enjoyable/helpful? I read Annie Dillard's A Writing Life for a creative writing class and loved it; however, I don't know of any other books that are reccomended by writers. Care to share?

The most helpful writing book I've read is Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande.
But that's a special case - it's not about writing techniques at all, but about gaining the faith to write in the first place, and accessing the "inner writer".

I've read a few books on technique, such as How to Write a Damn Good Novel, which was OK, plus Charcters and Viewpoint by Orson Card Scott, which is good,and a coupe others I can't remember.

I've read On Writing, which everyone recommends; but I haev to admit I was rather underwhelmed. The first part is autobiograohical, and didn't interest me particularly. Much of his advice is based on a detailed analysis of his books - which is OK if you have read the, but I have not, so I couldn't get into it.

A few things he says, I foudn myself agreeing with 100% - such as:

I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, wven when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and thge spontanaeity of real creation aren't compatible.

This is something I always believed and adhered to, and it was good to see it confirmed by King. But leafing through my copy, that's the only passage I have underlined.

Perhaps if I ever get around to reading him I'll read the book with more dedication; as it was, I skimmed huge chunks of it.

[Azure Skye]

I really enjoyed Writing Down the Bones. It was one of the first books I read when I decided I wanted to become a writer. Other books I've read that have helped me in a big way have been the Writer's Digest series of books like: Plots, Character and Viewpoint, Description and Scene and Structure, and so forth. Although I have to admit Scene and Structure confused me at times. It's definitely one of those books I'll have to read over again.

I just bought Self-editing for Fiction Writers and will be diving into that one real soon.

[Kiva Wolfe]

Here's yet another vote for Stephen King's On Writing. I also loved The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler.

Others:

Character and Viewpoint, Orson Scott Card
Elements of Editing, Arthur Plotnick
Elements of Style, Strunk & White
How to Get Happily Published, Judith Applebaum
Scene & Structure, Jack Bickham

I wish I could say any one of the aforementioned is the quintessential How To Book, but I am still hunting for that myself. Hope this helps with the writing.

[Niapri]

"Breathing Life into Your Characters" by Rachel Ballon
It's good if your characters are falling flat, or seem one-dimensional. It deals with practically every emotional/mental issue a character can have, from the mundane to the insane. It seems to be a rather clinical viewpoint at times, but for the most part, it's really helpful.

[VOTE_BOT]

Ray Bradbury's "Zen in the Art of Writing" is useful and entertaining.

[alanna]

Thanks so much you guys! I can't wait to check some of these out! :)

[JerseyGirl1962]

I knew I'd forgotten some, LOL! (Well, actually, one.)

Yes, Description, by Monica Wood. What I like about this one is that she doesn't say "Show, don't tell." Instead, it's more like, "Sometimes show, sometimes tell." In other words, you should take a balanced approach to description, as the story warrants.

As I tend to have trouble with such things, I've gotten a lot out of this book.

~Nancy

[debraji]

Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin has a wonderful section on POV, plus a set of practical exercises that are well worth doing.

[BenMears]

Here are a few I've liked that haven't been mentioned yet:

Robyn Carr, Practical Tips for Writing Popular Fiction
Dean Koontz, How to Write Bestselling Fiction
John Braine, Writing a Novel
Andre Jute, Writing a Thriller

Even if you don't write, or even read, thrillers I recommend picking up the last one for the most straight-forward no-nonsense analysis of the necessary qualities of a successful writer and how to get the job done.

[goatpiper]

Steering the Craft by Ursula Leguin is awesome - I know someone has mentioned it.
The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes by Jack Bickham is something I'm reading right now - also quite excellent.
Other than Scene and Structure by Bickham, his book Writing and Selling Your Novel is supposed to be good - I'll be getting that from the library soon enough.

[azbikergirl]

I second the Donald Maass and Dwight Swain books and would add Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver to that list.

[Pencilone]

How to Fix Fiction by Porosky

[brinkett]

How did people write fiction before all these books were available?

[scarletpeaches]

On a wing and a prayer.

[mistri]

Obviously you don't need these books to write. However, I sometimes find them inspiring, or that they help me to think about my work in a different way. Having said that, I'm in the middle of clearing out most of mine - there's only so many times you can read them.

I like the Donald Maass ones best.