Books on writing
- Thread starter MockingBird
- Start date
- Status
On Writing, as has been mentioned, is half memoir and half writing advice, though one could make the case that it's half writing advice presented as memoir and half straight-up writing advice. The second half is good.
But as has also been mentioned, the best book on how to write isn't a how-to-write book at all, it's a book in the style you want to write in. The best how-to-write book for what I'm working on now is The Collected Stories of John Cheever, though that's obviously not a formal manual.
But as has also been mentioned, the best book on how to write isn't a how-to-write book at all, it's a book in the style you want to write in. The best how-to-write book for what I'm working on now is The Collected Stories of John Cheever, though that's obviously not a formal manual.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2012
- Messages
- 936
- Reaction score
- 178
- Location
- New York State
- Website
- ajaxkallistrate.com
How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James Frey
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
Three Uses of the Knife by David Mamet
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl & Cynthia Ward
Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guin
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
Grammatically Correct (2nd ed.) by Anne Stilman
In addition to The Elements of Style, of course.
I've read the first three books multiple times, usually 2-3 times a year, and Zinsser's book twice. And yes, all while writing my own work. I just tend to get obsessive about books that seem to unlock the secrets of good drama. I mean, damn good drama.
Now I'm off to comb through the rest of the thread for more books to add to my to-read list...
The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri
Three Uses of the Knife by David Mamet
On Writing Well by William Zinsser
Writing the Other by Nisi Shawl & Cynthia Ward
Steering the Craft by Ursula Le Guin
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
Grammatically Correct (2nd ed.) by Anne Stilman
In addition to The Elements of Style, of course.
I've read the first three books multiple times, usually 2-3 times a year, and Zinsser's book twice. And yes, all while writing my own work. I just tend to get obsessive about books that seem to unlock the secrets of good drama. I mean, damn good drama.
Now I'm off to comb through the rest of the thread for more books to add to my to-read list...
The second half of On Writing is wonderful. I also love Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing.
But I love the autobiographies of writers even more. The path they take often means as much as any direct advice they give. This is also true of On Writing. Pay attention to the autobiographical first half of teh book. King's childhood played a huge role in making him the writer he is today.
And advice I see a lot, and agree with, is go to the library and read the entire .808 section.
If you've got an extra five minutes, you can read Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules on Writing. It's a free download on the web.
Silly as this may sound, it changed my life as a writer.
Silly as this may sound, it changed my life as a writer.
Thank you for that recommendation. I've just realized how often I use the word 'suddenly'.
I used to buy Dnd book, though not for the same reason one might normally buy them. I looked at them as a way of helping you write a story with an already built universe before moving on to writing your own work. Just like they say start with fan fiction before moving on the self generated work.
The book I enjoyed was Werewolves: The Forsaken by world of darkness. Right now I'm considering a Cyberpunk role playing book.
It goes without saying you should pick a role playing book based on a subject you enjoy, although at the moment I don't think there are any fantasy role playing books on floral arrangement. It might work for you, maybe not.
The book I enjoyed was Werewolves: The Forsaken by world of darkness. Right now I'm considering a Cyberpunk role playing book.
It goes without saying you should pick a role playing book based on a subject you enjoy, although at the moment I don't think there are any fantasy role playing books on floral arrangement. It might work for you, maybe not.
OK, I'm confused . . . I thought you were supposed to vary "said" as much as possible to add interest and character detail?
Seconding this. LOVED this book. I really need to reread it actually...
ETA: Clarifying, On Becoming a Novelist is the one I read and found useful.
Need to read the other
Last edited:
No no no no no. This is an easy mistake to make, especially because school gets writers into this habit. Don't do it!
'Said' is invisible. All the other words are unnecessary and distracting. Stick to using 'said' as much as you can.
-- Quote from Grammar Girl
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 25,582
- Reaction score
- 3,785
- Location
- New Hampshire
- Website
- madhousemanor.wordpress.com
Who told you this?
You can use words other than 'said' to mean said, but only do so sparingly, and only for the very best of reasons.
I pulled it from the Elmore Leonard link a little further upthread.
I'm wondering if this is a case of audience. I'm used to writing and editing for children (young middle grade), and I've been encouraged to vary "said"—perhaps to build vocabulary? Engage reluctant readers?
It's a pretty fascinating topic, one that I hadn't considered until now!
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 25,582
- Reaction score
- 3,785
- Location
- New Hampshire
- Website
- madhousemanor.wordpress.com
The "this" I was referring to is the idea that one should vary 'said' as much as possible.
I'm aware of the entire "said is dead" campaign in primary schools, and I think I've said on many occasions how damaging I think it is.
What Mr. Elmore says is, "3. Never use a verb other than 'said' to carry dialogue."
A lot of great books mentioned here, and I'll add to the list by suggesting Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
I see, sorry for the confusion. When I think about it, I don't know if the "anti said" perspective is anything I've formally learned. Maybe it's just something I've assimilated from a ton of middle-grade reading?
I had real trouble getting through this and stopped half-way, but after reading Self-Editing For Fiction Writers I'm tempted to go back to it.
I'd definitely recommended Self-Editing as a first step before tackling Reading Like, though, because Self-Editing covers similar themes in simpler and clearer ways.
Oh man, I've read WAY too many books about writing, and most of them have been a waste of time. It's a serious problem. Don't read too many books about writing--just write. That's my advice. Anyways, I would say that the elements of fiction writing series is a good start. Characters and Viewpoint by Card and Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Kress are the standouts. Beginnings, Middles, & Ends has helped me more than any other book I've read. There's another writing series called "write great fiction" that I would steer clear of, as it's nowhere near as good.
If you're into fantasy, then I would recommend the three-book set called "The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy." A lot of books have similar titles, but I'm specifically talking about the one where the first book is edited by Darin Park and Tom Dullemond. These books are great not necessarily because they teach you a lot, but because they tell you what questions you should be asking about your world and characters. Stuff you might otherwise overlook. Stuff like how many people are in an average medieval-esque village and what percentage of those people would be blacksmiths. Great stuff.
The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is a GREAT reference source. It's basically just a bunch of different emotions with lists of outward actions that would signify that emotion. So for instance the emotion "agitation' would have a long list that included stuff like 'pacing' or 'tugging at a tie or collar' as well as a list of internal sensations felt by the character in question and their mental responses. I always have this by me while I write because I'm really bad at outwardly signifying emotion.
This isn't a book about writing, but rather an anthropological book, but Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond has helped with my world-building by giving me a clearer understanding of how civilizations develop, and what has to exist for it to happen.
If you're into fantasy, then I would recommend the three-book set called "The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy." A lot of books have similar titles, but I'm specifically talking about the one where the first book is edited by Darin Park and Tom Dullemond. These books are great not necessarily because they teach you a lot, but because they tell you what questions you should be asking about your world and characters. Stuff you might otherwise overlook. Stuff like how many people are in an average medieval-esque village and what percentage of those people would be blacksmiths. Great stuff.
The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is a GREAT reference source. It's basically just a bunch of different emotions with lists of outward actions that would signify that emotion. So for instance the emotion "agitation' would have a long list that included stuff like 'pacing' or 'tugging at a tie or collar' as well as a list of internal sensations felt by the character in question and their mental responses. I always have this by me while I write because I'm really bad at outwardly signifying emotion.
This isn't a book about writing, but rather an anthropological book, but Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond has helped with my world-building by giving me a clearer understanding of how civilizations develop, and what has to exist for it to happen.
Personally, I like How Not to Write a Novel by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman. It's pretty funny and spot on in my opinion.
I've read (too) many how-to-write books, and haven't written enough novels. Maybe I'm just too afraid that I'm not doing it right, and want to get as much advice on it as possible.
Watch out for "The Elements of Style," there have been cantankerous threads on that book with both pro and con arguments. Arguably it only applies to college papers, because that's what it was originally aimed at improving.
One interesting one not mentioned is "How To Write Best Selling Fiction," a sort of followup/rewrite of "Writing Popular Fiction." The author went on to have his odd bestsellers show up in the supermarkets, so his long-out-of-print books on writing now command big bucks. He's against writing genre novels because of their limited audience. His argument is it takes the same amount of effort to write a mainstream novel as a genre one, and the mainstream one has the potential to sell a lot more copies, so why not write what will pay the most?
I've read these books, and I'll tell you some of what they say (especially the latter one). There's six words he repeats several times through the book:
Watch out for "The Elements of Style," there have been cantankerous threads on that book with both pro and con arguments. Arguably it only applies to college papers, because that's what it was originally aimed at improving.
One interesting one not mentioned is "How To Write Best Selling Fiction," a sort of followup/rewrite of "Writing Popular Fiction." The author went on to have his odd bestsellers show up in the supermarkets, so his long-out-of-print books on writing now command big bucks. He's against writing genre novels because of their limited audience. His argument is it takes the same amount of effort to write a mainstream novel as a genre one, and the mainstream one has the potential to sell a lot more copies, so why not write what will pay the most?
I've read these books, and I'll tell you some of what they say (especially the latter one). There's six words he repeats several times through the book:
Here's another hint, the reading he's talking about is fiction.
Yes, I understand reading is the best teacher. I devoted my free time to reading one book, reading one how-to-book and writing. I do a little of each every day, no acceptance.
Free Ebooks
Go to Amazon
Go to the Kindle ebook category
Input "writing a novel" in the search box and enter
On the far right, there should be a dropdown box where you can choose low to high price
That option should reload the page with the free books first
Then you can download to your Kindle.
If you don't have a Kindle (which I don't): download the Kindle app to either an Iphone or and Ipad OR just download it to your computer. Amazon makes this easy and also it's easy to just click a button and have the book downloaded to whichever device - they just have to be linked to your Amazon account. Amazon provides easy instructions for all of this on their website. HTH!
Books I have downloaded for free:
The Prolific Writer
Write Good or Die
How I Wrote My First Book
Writing A Novel Anthology
Secrets of Successful Writers
Go to Amazon
Go to the Kindle ebook category
Input "writing a novel" in the search box and enter
On the far right, there should be a dropdown box where you can choose low to high price
That option should reload the page with the free books first
Then you can download to your Kindle.
If you don't have a Kindle (which I don't): download the Kindle app to either an Iphone or and Ipad OR just download it to your computer. Amazon makes this easy and also it's easy to just click a button and have the book downloaded to whichever device - they just have to be linked to your Amazon account. Amazon provides easy instructions for all of this on their website. HTH!
Books I have downloaded for free:
The Prolific Writer
Write Good or Die
How I Wrote My First Book
Writing A Novel Anthology
Secrets of Successful Writers
- Status