Books on writing...

TruckinTWrites · Nov 17, 2011

Alright, I have done the search thing, but came up short. Probably because I couldn't find the right words to search. Im looking for some good books to help me with my writing. Structure, plot, etc. Im mostly doing Thriller/Horror stuff and desperately want to get better.

I have read Stephen King's "On Writing", but it was more of an autobiography than a how to.

Any suggestions?

DDoc · Nov 17, 2011

I only have two books on writing; Elements of Style and Making Comics. I haven't read Making Comics yet but I believe it deals with plot and structure. I'm about halfway through Elements of Style and, although it doesn't deal with plot and things like that, it has helped my writing a lot.

Lovecraft has a very good but short essay on the subject- http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/nwwf.asp

akbowens · Nov 17, 2011

I'll give you my list.

I have...

Writing Fiction for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Brown and Dave King

I plan on getting...

Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler
Revision and Editing by James Scott Bell
Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
Getting Into Character by Brandilyn Collins
Empowering Characters' Emotions by Margie Lawson (online)
English Grammar for Dummies by Geraldine Wood
How to Write a Great Query Letter by Noah Lukeman
Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, Joseph M. Williams
Flogging the Quill: Crafting a Novel that Sells by Ray Rhamey
The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
The Story Book: A Writer's Guide to Story Development, Principles, Problem-solving and Marketing by David Baboulene
The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great by Donald Maass

A big list, I know.

HTH

The Lonely One · Nov 17, 2011

TruckinTWrites said:
Alright, I have done the search thing, but came up short. Probably because I couldn't find the right words to search. Im looking for some good books to help me with my writing. Structure, plot, etc. Im mostly doing Thriller/Horror stuff and desperately want to get better.

I have read Stephen King's "On Writing", but it was more of an autobiography than a how to.

Any suggestions?

On horror that's a tough one. I personally am not familiar with horror writers so I couldn't help you there. Sorry to hear about On Writing because a friend bought it for my bday and I was looking forward to reading it...

My general list (not genre specific) includes

The Lie that Tells a Truth by John Dufresne and
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner.

Though I could never navigate myself all the way through Gardner's book. Not sure why. Had something to do with his incessant use of dashes and parenthesis. Still, some good advice there.

TruckinTWrites · Nov 17, 2011

The Lonely One said:
Sorry to hear about On Writing because a friend bought it for my bday and I was looking forward to reading it...

Dont get me wrong...it is an awesome book, bit it does tell a LOT about how he started. Im reading it again so maybe Ill learn something \. LOL.

rainsmom · Nov 17, 2011

STORY, by Robert McKee. Only writing book I've read over and over and over.

SRHowen · Nov 17, 2011

Kings On Writing. The Zen of Writing, Self Editing for Fiction Writers, Elements of Style, Characters and Viewpoint. I have a lot of others people have given me over the years when they couldn't figure out what else to get me for a holiday.

The Lonely One · Nov 17, 2011

SRHowen said:
Kings On Writing. The Zen of Writing, Self Editing for Fiction Writers, Elements of Style, Characters and Viewpoint. I have a lot of others people have given me over the years when they couldn't figure out what else to get me for a holiday.

How is that? I've always wanted to read it to hear Bradbury's thoughts on craft but never got around to buying it.

SomethingOrOther · Nov 17, 2011

akbowens said:
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain

The Lonely One said:
The Art of Fiction by John Gardner.

rainsmom said:
STORY, by Robert McKee. Only writing book I've read over and over and over.

SRHowen said:
Characters and Viewpoint.

I second these recommendations.

SRHowen · Nov 17, 2011

The Lonely One said:
How is that? I've always wanted to read it to hear Bradbury's thoughts on craft but never got around to buying it.

The first time I read it I thought it a waste of time, then time passed, and my craft improved, and I learned a lot about writing, then it made more sense and I enjoyed it.

Like King's On Writing, you get different things out of it at different stages on your path of writing.

Callista Melaney · Nov 18, 2011

I've just started reading books about writing, so I'm pretty much looking for more titles just like you are at the moment. I would strongly strongly suggest reading Elements of Style, though (even Stephen King brings it up a few times in On Writing). It's very thin and takes about an hour to read. Other than that, I've also read The Lie That Tells a Truth by John Dufresne. His voice came off a little self-righteous (but maybe that's just me) but if you cut out the autobiography part of On Writing and add like a gillion writing exercises, you'd have TLTTAT.

seun · Nov 18, 2011

As useful as the how to books are, the best thing to do is read as widely as possible in your genre. Go for the classics by all the dead writers and then go for contemporary writers. Seek them out. Don't just stick to the big names. There are plenty of lesser known writers producing amazing stuff.

BradCarsten · Nov 18, 2011

How to write a damn good novel II: fantastic book on plotting.
he also has a book: how to write a damn good thriller- haven't read it though, but you may want to check it out.

Techniques of the selling writer, as mentioned above- excellent book

then to improve your writing technique:

Self editing for fiction writers : help you overcome those mistakes that brand you with a big N badge. *Throw stones at the new kid*
The first five pages : same as ^^
English grammar for dummies : this book is a goldmine of info on crafting good sentences.
grammar rules by craig shrives : takes it up a notch or ten. entertaining and easy to understand.

The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook Guide to Getting Published is just a thoroughly entertaining read.

Bufty · Nov 18, 2011

I found Swain's Techniques of the Selling Writer to be helpful and easy to read together with Scene & Structure - How to construct fiction with scene-by-scene flow, logic and readability. by Jack M. Bickham.

NiallMcF · Nov 18, 2011

agree with you about On Writing by stephen king, it was mostly about him. an enjoyable book, but not great for improving your writing.
there's a thread you should see above this one; what books helped improve your writing?- have a look on there. there's tonnes of suggestions, some very good ones too.

NiallMcF · Nov 18, 2011

oh, and i'd second techniques of the selling writer. some solid tips in there that will improve your writing.

BotByte · Nov 18, 2011

Stephen King on Writing - Very good, a must read
The Writer's Little Helper - Also good for beginners. I still like to take notes from it.

All others are either BS or overdone. Element of Styles is a little behind in the times to me.

vlindahl · Nov 18, 2011

Writing With Power: Peter Elbow
A Practical Handbook For The Actor: Melissa Bruder, et al.
Backwards & Forwards: David Ball
Hemingway On Writing: Ernest Hemingway

quicklime · Nov 18, 2011

TruckinTWrites said:
Alright, I have done the search thing, but came up short. Probably because I couldn't find the right words to search. Im looking for some good books to help me with my writing. Structure, plot, etc. Im mostly doing Thriller/Horror stuff and desperately want to get better.

I have read Stephen King's "On Writing", but it was more of an autobiography than a how to.

Any suggestions?

I disagree; it was a 50/50 split, but that was still a pretty good amount of how-to.

as far as other suggestions:

On Writing Horror
Self Editing for Fiction Writers
lots of time spent here....seriously. AW is like a constantly moving how-to, so long as you figure out who to listen to and when. Lots of people, lots of opinions, lots of experience.

SRHowen · Nov 18, 2011

I think sometime people are looking for a manual on how to write a novel. First you do this, then this, and then this and then oyu have a novel.

How to books tell you how to do all the things that go into a novel according to what worked for the person writing the novel. How to edit, how to outline a plot, how to create characters, and so on, the story come from you. You can read all these books and do all the things in them as exercises to learn how to use the tools, but the use of the tools after you have learned their purpose is up to you.

How do I write a novel after all the classes and books, I sit, I write.

There is not master plan that works for every novel, there are tools, and if you learn to use the tools and how others use the tools somewhere along the way how to write a novel, your way, will click in place.

dangerousbill · Nov 18, 2011

TruckinTWrites said:
Alright, I have done the search thing, but came up short. Probably because I couldn't find the right words to search. Im looking for some good books to help me with my writing. Structure, plot, etc. Im mostly doing Thriller/Horror stuff and desperately want to get better.

I have a shelf full of writing books. The only one I use on a regular basis is Browne and King's, 'Self Editing for Fiction Writers'.

Lawrence Block published four helpful books on writing technique which I read years ago. They were collections of his columns in 'Writers Digest'. One of them is 'Telling Lies for Fun and Profit'. These books are the only ones that really helped me in the beginning stages, and address topics that are normally ignored in the more academic writing books. For example, one chapter that I recall addresses the topic, 'what is the right time to stop doing research?'

Jamesaritchie · Nov 18, 2011

TruckinTWrites said:
Alright, I have done the search thing, but came up short. Probably because I couldn't find the right words to search. Im looking for some good books to help me with my writing. Structure, plot, etc. Im mostly doing Thriller/Horror stuff and desperately want to get better.

I have read Stephen King's "On Writing", but it was more of an autobiography than a how to.

Any suggestions?

I always wonder why people say On Writing is not a how-to book. I think King's On Writing is the best how-to book out there. The second half is ALL how-to, and extremely useful how-to, at that.

The autobiographical part is also excellent how-to material. For that matter, I think autobiographies are always better how-to books than actual how-to books.

But my second favorite book on writing is Bradbury's Zen in the Art of Writing.

My favorite after this is Dean Koontz's book How To Write Best Selling Fiction

jjdebenedictis · Nov 18, 2011

rainsmom said:
STORY, by Robert McKee. Only writing book I've read over and over and over.

Ditto this, so very much!

The book is actually for screenwriters, but it's fantastic. It dives into the psychology of what keeps a person's attention riveted to the story. It explains the idea of building every scene around a "turning point" (a moment of irreversible change.) It shows you how to write subtly by having things implied through subtext (the things that aren't said) rather than text (the things that are.) I feel like that's the book that really helped me get an intellectual (rather than instinctive) understanding of how to assemble a plot.

It's also pretty dense reading, just so you know. Don't expect to flit through it in a night; your head would explode.

JSDR · Nov 18, 2011

Man, this thread just reminded me I have three books out at the library. (now overdue by one week! *facepalm*)

Thanks, but this isn't for us: a (sort of) compassionate guide to why your writing is being rejected. By: Jessica Morrell - basics on fail things to avoid if you're writing with the aim to get agented and published.

Self-editing for Fiction Writers. By: Renni Browne and Dave King

How to grow a novel: the most common mistakes writers make and how to avoid them. By: Sol Stein.

LJD · Nov 18, 2011

try this thread: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=175801

I like Plot and Structure (James Scott Bell).
I confess I haven't read a great deal of books on writing.

Books on writing...

New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

New Fish; Learning About Thick Skin

Feeling like an old timer

Erotica is not a four letter word!

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

-

Erotica is not a four letter word!

Horror Man

practical experience, FTW

Where have the last ten years gone?

work in progress

work in progress

Not a Reader, a Writer

Write like mad, edit like hell.

all out of fucks to give

Erotica is not a four letter word!

Retired Illuminatus

is watching you via her avatar

wants moar baddassery.