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I have many, but two in particular jump out at me and have helped me tremendously: Science Fiction Writer's Workshop- I by Barry Longyear, and The Craft of Writing Science Fiction That Sells by Ben Bova.
How 'bout you? Which books are tops on your lists?
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Well there's the UK writer Bob Shaw's "How to Write Science Fiction": a very sensible and practical book.
The J.N. Williamson edited volume "How to Write Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror" is also very good and is full of some very good articles by well known genre writers.
Stephen King's own "On Writing" is a good solid little volume and is full of sound advice.
The last is actually a work of fiction; the quality and conviction of the writing is something I would love to aspire to, and also the length of the pieces are a good example of someone who excels at vignettes, short stories, novelettes and novellas - Peter Straub's "Houses Without Doors."
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Mine are the "Writer's Guide to Character Traits" by and "Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Cambell. While "Hero" isn't specifically about writing, it provides such a stong source of information on mythical structure and principles that you can easily apply to your writing. For something that takes Campbell's book and applies it directly to writing, I have "The Writer's Journey, Second Edition: Mythic Structure for Writers"
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Interesting. I have Ben Bova's book and read it twice. I think it's okay, but I wouldn't rank it among the best.
I also have and read Stephen King's book. At bootcamp, OSC really ripped on the writing guide portion, but loved the biography portion. If I'm not mistaken, OSC said something to the effect of "A writer of his stature should know better than to simply echo a high school english teacher, especially when he doesn;t follow his own advice." I'm paraphrasing, but I believe that was the gist of what he said, if memory serves.
Speaking of OSC, I've read three of his books, and all three are among the best I've ever read. Ender's GAme, Characters & Viewpoint, and How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. OSC is a good writer and a good teacher, and he delivers in those two writing books.
I have several others, each with their own merits, but the two by Card are by far the most instructive.
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Card's Characters and Viewpoints has helped tremendously. Although it seems common sense now, some of the things he tells you to ask and how to approach certain situations was a breakthrough for me.
[This message has been edited by pogozorro (edited August 30, 2005).]
[This message has been edited by pogozorro (edited August 30, 2005).]
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I think the level of helpfulness really depends on where you are as a writer. Anything that advises putting your butt in the chair and writing, often and in large quantities, and gives you the basics of technique and the essential elements of story-telling is valid. Books that offer planning methods are probably a crapshoot; I think it depends on your tastes and writing habits as to what will work for you (though, I must say that I thought OSC's "How to Write SF and F"--the only one of his I've read so far--was a really good mix of basic theory and practical advice). As for studying the nuances of all the various aspects of writing, you could probably spend the rest of your life reading up on these things...with varying degrees of success.
All that said, the one real workhorse I've found is "Revising Fiction" by David Madden. In it, the author uses before and after examples from the work of well known literary figures to explain what is essentially a 185 point checklist (but, in 8 broad categories: POV, dialogue, narrative, etc.). Certainly not the type of thing you'd "plug into" each time you revise, but a great reference book, and concise and interesting enough to reread often. I'm sure there are others, but this one works for me.
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The Elements of Style, Strunk & White. Characters & Viewpoint, OSC. The Craft of Science Fiction, specifically, Niven's essay on how to name things.
The others, I think, didn't help me much, but were fun.
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Writing fantasy and science fiction, OSC Steering the craft, Ursula Le Guin Creating short fiction, Damon Knight
Posts: 1075 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I think the one book that actually helped me in writing was Stephen King's On Writing, and I disagreed with 75% of everything he said. It just helped me realise what style and approach worked for me.
Other than that, there aren't many other books that have really done anything for me. There are, however, a couple of pieces of advice I've heard that have helped volumes.
“Tell a story you care about, about people you care about, and make the reader care what happens to the people in the story. Let your message come second to your story. And when you're done, have a friend who's good at spelling and grammar and things like that proof-read it for you.” - Neil Gaiman
"Close this book and get back to work." - OSC
Simple stuff, but it really put the focus on the work itself. Never mind the rest of it, just write the story.
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The important thing to remember is that all of these books are coaching. You aren't going to learn how to write by reading them any more than you learn to play piano by taking lessons. You learn to play piano by sitting down and playing it. The coach only helps you stay on track.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Aug 2010
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Amen to that--I should've added in my original post that even with all the very good books on writing out there, if they were all thrown away and a person did nothing but read voraciously and write every day for an hour or two, he or she would probably accomplish and learn much more than any instruction book (with the possible exception of "Elements of Style") could help them do.
I devour writing texts, as I prefer to call them--I see no difference between _Characters and Viewpoint_ and, say, _Writing with a Purpose_, the one-time-mainstay of college freshman English. Some writing texts are much more "text-ish" than OSC's and other typical, informal ones, e.g., Janet Burroway's exquisite guide to literary story writing, _Writing Fiction_. Hers is one of the first I bought, and it outflanked me completely as a beginner. Not until I'd been writing and studying other books several years could I read Burroway and feel I was getting anywhere.
Mentioned earlier in this string, the book that might have been the first great writing text I came by, was Dave Madden's _Revising Fiction_. Wow, what that book did for me. The reading list of "Exemplary Fiction" was the first list proffered me from a fiction writer, and his book had impressed me so that I "went down the list," re-reading those I'd read already, and reading all but one, which I was never able to find (this was before I got Internet and should find it and read it.) The list is short, so the sense of import each book carries is great. This book was by an author named Jules Romaines, I think. Anybody familiar with Jules?
Anyway, from another book, which has recently been brought back to publishing life, revised now (it needed it), but with a sound-enough approach to getting your feet wet, was _The Weekend Novelist_ by R.J. Ray. I got it from a Barnes & Noble catalog for $1., and from THIS book, I learned of others, much better:
> Burroway's book. > The Art of Fiction - John Gardner > The Hero with a Thousand Faces -Campbell > The Heroine's Journey - Murdock > The Art and Craft of Novel Writing - Oakley Hall*
Most of these books mentioned even more, and I got most of them eventually. These recommended still others, etc.
Oakley Hall's book is a must-read.
He wrote another, perhaps in its own way, a better, book...but _not for babies_--not for those who wish to be spoon-fed, given "instant, amazing fiction tricks"--was called _How Fiction Works_. The Amazon.com reader reviews helped destroy this insightful, erudite discussion of fiction, from a man who's spent his life doing it, teaching it, respecting it. When I say the reviews "destroyed" it, I mean it probably now holds a record for lowest sales of any book from Story Press; and, as you may know, Story Press is the "High-Brow" cousin of Writer's Digest Books, and if you'll notice, Story Press books are often "peers of the realm," and stay in print a _long_ time. This book is probably hard to find now. If you can find it, know ahead of time, it's so subtle, its rewards might not be at once apparent. Just ask yourself, "What if I actually *knew* this stuff, the way _he_ knows it?" and that may help.
Other's worth their weight in acceptance notes:
_Story Writing_ by Edith Mirrielees. Out of print, but lots of them at abebooks.com and Amazon. The *best* book I've seen about short-story writing. No sugar-coating, no bull. From a writer/teacher who taught at Stanford(one student named "Steinbeck") for years, this book was published by The Writer, Inc. in 1947. Get the revised edition if possible. // From this book I got some of the best advice of my writing life, which is, select--carefully!--a "set" of stories, half a dozen, maybe a dozen, and read them _continuously_, as if stranded on an island with them. Study what makes them work, what "holds them together," how the author did what he/she did. It's there on the page before you: keep reading, again and again, slowly, confident that the craft behind these favorites _will_ become apparent to you.
This is mostly Mrs. Mirrielees' idea, elaborated somewhat by yours truly. She doesn't mean, "Read nothing else," of course. But for as long as it takes, read your set as a monk would read his Bible--daily. (The book is filled with nitty-gritty stuff like this: no fuff here.)
> Josip Novakovich's two "workshop" books, each with about 200 MFA-level exercises, from Story Press. Work through both volumes, in earnest, and amaze yourself. The best teacher I know.
>_The Plot Thickens_, Noah Lukeman. St.Martins. Like no other, and lofty stuff brought to earth. A few Amazon reviewers didn't read the whole book and whined, but don't listen to 'em.
>The First Five Pages - Noah Lukeman, ditto the previous book. Esp. re Amazon.
>_On Becoming a Novelist_-John Gardner. If you aspire to be one, you'll be one faster with this.
>_Building Fiction_- Jesse Lee Kercheval. The best book on structure I know of. To-the-point, and a unique slant. The Story Press edition is OP, but I think the U. of Nevada keeps it in print.
>_Writing Down the Bones_ Natalie Goldberg. What's to say?
>_Understanding Fiction_ Brooks and Warren. I honestly don't see how a writer could not have a good grasp of what this book teaches and expect to write a good story.
>_Understanding Poetry_ Brooks and Warren. A writer’s Garden of Eden, right here. Get the 1977 edition.
>_Keys to Great Writing_ - Richard Wilbur. How to make sense, and what's wrong with so many of writing's "rules."
>_Voice and Style_ Johnny Payne. Probably OoP, but a _damned smart_ writer provides a ton of cool stuff to ponder. Writer's Digest Books, 198?.
-------------- Yes, I could go on! I might say something about using writing texts as a means to learning to write. This is very important, but for a separate post.
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TL 601 - actually, what you wrote makes sense. I read somewhere that you have to believe both - that you are great so you will actually have the confidence to submit, and that you are "crap" so you constantly work to make your writing the best it can be!
I also found OSC's How to Write SF&F to be helpful, some parts more than others.
I think the "structure" books are out there to share what an author found works for him/her, and are desired most by those looking for the "secret formula" or "magical thingy" that will crystalize all they know into a novel. I looked at enough of them, but didn't buy them.
What I do like are my magazines: Writer's Digest, and The Writer. I like short, useful articles from which I can take a few notes on a notecard and then actually apply the advice to my writing. For example, I'm editing a short story (14K words), that I let sit for a while. The July 2005 Writer's Digest came out with an article by Nancy Kress on revising ("Once More, From the Top") that gave a concise, useful method for revising that made sense to me!
Then I can revise my story once more, with feeling :-)
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I haven't read The Writer, but Writer's Digest has always helped me. Another book that I almost forgot about is "20 Master Plots". It's not exactly a "how-to" book, but rather it explores the meaning and uses of 20 different plot structures, as well as a very interesting introduction. It's not my favorite, but it is an interesting read.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Aug 2005
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The how-to-write books that work the best for me are probably the ones that give me ideas for something I'm working on and that I then put down so I can go write.
But then, I've already read a lot of the ones that have been mentioned.
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As I sit here at this computer, I can see the following: Writing Science Fiction, by Christopher Evans The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White Word Power; A Guide To Creative Writing, by Julian Birkett Research For Writers, by Ann Hoffman Becoming A Writer, by Dorothea Brande Writing For Pleasure And Profit, by Michael Legat The Complete Book Of Scriptwriting, by J Michael Straczynski
And you know what? Right now I couldn't remember which, if any, of them have been remotely helpful over the past 20-odd years in which I've been "honing my craft" to whatever level it's currently at.
Ultimately, the best tutor is practice, and the occasional bout of feedback through critique groups such as this, which will give you a good idea if you're working along the right lines, and what your strengths and weaknesses are.
And in the end, you'll know you're a good writer when you see your name on the spine of a whole row of books in Barnes and Noble...
"The Early Asimov," Isaac Asimov. (Read about 1973.) Not really a guide to writing, really a history of Asimov's own writing career (with samples). But reading this was what inspired me to take up the typewriter myself (but not till 1975.)
"Science Fiction Handbook, Revised," L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine Crook de Camp. (Read about 1977.) It taught me a lot about how to put together stories, plus stuff on the business side of writing that I have yet to use.
"Science Fiction Writer's Workshop I," Barry B. Longyear. (Read about 1980.) Also taught me about writing and style, with examples, but these were stories I was then reading in the magazines at the time.
"How to Write Best Selling Fiction," Dean Koontz. (Read about 1982.) Taught me to look beyond science fiction and fantasy for lessons in how to write. (As I read a library copy and do not currently have one of my own, I am uncertain of the title or exact date.)
It's hard to point to one particular lesson in any book as being helpful: it's more a matter of absorbing the lessons by osmosis, almsot.
(I used to subscribe to "The Writer" and "Writer's Digest" at times, but, in one "being broke" phase or another, I let my subscription lapse, and never looked at more than the occasional issue beyond that. I've stuck with the "SF and Fantasy Writer's Workshop" for some time now, and still learn an occasional lesson there.)
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You know what, tchernabyelo is absolutely right!
The few books I mentioned above were fun to read, but if I took anything away from them then it was on a subconscious level.
I've picked up far more practical advice in the past two weeks since autumnmuse at Worldcon told me about Hatrack than I ever have from reading any how-to manuals since I started seriously writing some 16 years ago. Browsing through the forums, reading what others have said about various fragments and so on - it's all here!
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Something else I thought of... Some advice gets restated in different ways among many of these resources. As we read books to help us become or improve as writers, we do absorb, over time, many of the techniques. Little by little, we don't need certain kinds of help anymore because we do know what we are doing (to some extent!). And the more we write and apply our increasingly honed skills and knowledge, the more it becomes ingrained - sometimes to the point that we can't explain exactly how we do what we do - we just KNOW how to do it!
Then, sometimes, a reminder doesn't hurt either. I've been saving all my magazines, but am thinking that eventually, the helpful bits show up in new articles. So maybe I need to just clip what really spoke to me, and recycle the rest.
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A writer will always take away what the writer is ready to take away. I especially disagree with
quote:The Complete Book Of Scriptwriting, by J Michael Straczynski
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As a person thrust into writing a screenplay unexpectedly (this is a good thing), I found it quite valuable as someone who has never even considered writing a screenplay before this year.
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Spaceman - I never meant to imply Straczynski's book wasn't useful (though I've never yet tried to write a screenplay). Nor any of the others. I just wanted to point out that despite having read a bunch of books on the subject (and there are clearly, from this thread, hundreds more), I've learnt a lot from practice, and there's no substitute for that. Reading all the books in the world on writing will not mean that you can then sit down and write a top-selling novel in one sitting.
Indeed, there are areas that I still have distinct difficulty with. Few of the books I have read concentrate very much on plotting; on the structure of a story, on how to link dramatic scenes, how to make the right things happen in the right order, how to build that sequence of events that makes for drama. I can write dramatic scenes, but I can't always get my characters to them in a logical way (you know the sort of thing - a fantastic denouement duel between the hero and the villain at the top of the bell tower... but wait, why ar they up the bell tower, on their own?). if anyone knows a really good book on how to plot, I'd be interested in reading it...
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As would I. Writing is just the vehicle. You still need to know where you're going, and it's a different trip every time.
Posts: 2 | Registered: Aug 2010
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"Story" by Robert McKee "Writer's Journey" by Christopher Vogler "Self-editing for fiction writers" by Renni Browne and Dave King
The first two are screenwriting books, but that's a discipline where you really need to be economical in your story-telling which I think helps me. McKee serves as an excellent introduction to 3 act structure. Long-winded but worth the slog. Vogler might be too prescriptive for some, but I need something like that. The self-editing book is just a deficiency I have. Couldn't edit without it.
It's also good to have a fairly up-to-date copy of Writer's Market.
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These are the books that have been most helpful to me so far.
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss. I love this book because she doesn't just tell you what's "proper": she also explains the history of the various parts of punctuation. It helps a lot when I find myself in a stylistic quandry or a little too uptight about a frickin' semicolon.
Both The Plot Thickens and The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman were very helpful to me because they helped me realize what I wanted to write: inspiring fiction. I often fall short of this, but my ultimate goal is to write fiction that makes people want to be better, including myself.
Characters and Viewpoint by OSC. I enjoyed his thoughts on creating characters, especially ones with several motivations, but what really helped was the breakdown of POV. It's helped me avoid the usual traps, allowing me to find exciting, new traps.
Everything else has been online either in workshops like this or on (a few) websites.
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