misc.writing R e c o m m e n d e d R e a d i n g L i s t
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Last modified: 29 July 2002
[Click on ISBNs to buy these books from Amazon.com]
Bradbury, Ray. Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity. Santa Barbara, California: Joshua Odell Editions, Capra Press, 1989. Hardcover, 154 pp, $18.95. Expanded edition. ISBN 1-877741-09-4, trade paperback, $11.95. Bantam Books, 1995. ISBN 0-55329-634-5, mass-market paperback, $5.99.
Zen in the Art of Writing is an interesting examination into the modus operandi of one of the great writers of our century. Bradbury's main theme is that writing should be fun and not arduous work. Zen adequately fulfills the title by describing Bradbury's beliefs about writing and his personal practices, but it is only a self-examination and may not be useful to many other writers. (For example, Bradbury writes in spontaneous flashes and never revises his material.)
Brande, Dorothea. Becoming a Writer. J. P. Archer, 1981. ISBN 0-874771-64-1, trade paperback, 186 pp., $9.95.
This book was originally published in 1934 and is as fresh as ever today. An excellent and complete book, dealing with almost every aspect of the art of writing, with many wonderful suggestions on how to overcome blocks, view ones own work critically, etc. The current printing has a foreword by John Gardner, author of many books dealing with the art and craft of fiction.
Brown, Rita Mae. Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual. Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1989. ISBN 0-553-34630-X, trade paperback, $12.95.
Care and feeding of yourself as a writer. Brown, a working writer, has useful information on what standard of living to expect (near-poverty), how to make ends meet, and what to do with screenplays (take the money and run -- what appears on the screen will probably bear almost no resemblance to your work; that's why you write novels). Also contains some interesting philosophy.
Dissenting Review: The chapter on substance abuse is essential, the rest forgettable.
Chehak, Susan Taylor. Don Quixote Meets the Mob: The Craft of Fiction and the Art of Life. Xlibris, 2000. ISBN 0-7388-2476-3, trade paperback, 245 pp., $16.00.
Chehak describes some fundamental concepts of fiction writing similar to what you would find in almost any other how-to-write books, an overview of story arcs, setting, character, point of view, and dialogue. You would probably get a better understanding of the basic elements of fiction from a Freshman literature class, but you don't get too bored because Chehak generously peppers the text with interesting personal stories that illustrate her points.
But the meat of Don Quixote Meets the Mob comes in part two: The Art of Life. Chehak philosophically muses about fiction's role in the lives of both readers and writers, augmented again with personal anecdotes. She describes her view that many people live their own lives not in reality, but in some sort of personal fiction conglomerated from books, TV, experience, and imagination -- that people see themselves as the hero of some grand epic novel or action movie, as a Don Quixote battling against modern forces of evil such as the mob.
Dillard, Annie. The Writing Life. HarperCollins, 1990. ISBN 0-06-091988-4, trade paperback, $11.00.
Taken from essays that first appeared in Esquire, the TriQuarterly, and several other magazines. Dillard describes her experiences as a writer. The Writing Life is not a how-to volume in any sense; the crisp prose provides a direct glimpse into a writer's fertile mind.
Gardner, John. On Becoming a Novelist. W. W. Norton, 1983. ISBN 0-393-32003-0, hardcover, 172 pp., $12.00.
The Foreword by Raymond Carver alone makes this book worthwhile. Although you could call the book "inspirational" in nature because it deals with the art rather than the craft of writing (and although it says "Novelist" in the title, the book is also valuable to short story writers), it is not an exercise in cheerleading, but rather a serious discussion of the nature and training of a fiction writer. (There is also a chapter titled "Publication and Survival.") A wonderful book for the serious artist.
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. Shambhala Publications, 1986. ISBN 0-877733-75-9, trade paperback, 171 pp., $10.00.
The book consists of about 60 two- or three-page chapters, each of which presents a brief technique or suggestion for improving one's writing and creative process, with emphasis on the latter. Many times, the advice is presented via anecdotes. A very "Zen" approach to creative writing, as one might guess from the publisher.
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird. Anchor, 1994. ISBN 0-385-48001-6, trade paperback, 239 pp., $12.95.
Bird by Bird takes a very different approach from standard how-to-write fare. Lamott admits that for most writers, writing will not produce wealth, happiness, or security. Yet, writers keep on writing anyway. Lamott focuses her advice on getting you in tune with your subconscious and on overcoming a lack of self-confidence. She encourages you to set small assignments for yourself: you should only work on as much of your story as you can see through a one-inch picture frame. By achieving assignment after assignment, you will eventually accomplish a great deal of work.
Lamott must also have one of the most self-deprecating brains every to have inhabited a human form. She tells humorous stories of her own continued nervousness about her writing in spite of her established successes. From her own experience, she gives numerous tips on overcoming the inner critic that keeps telling you that forcing your pen through you temple would produce a better result than putting the point to the paper. For on thing, you should allow yourself to write really bad first drafts. No one will see the draft, so you don't have to worry about quality. Later, you can throw away most of the dreck, but you will also want to save the really good parts that you would have never produced if you had tried to produce really good copy from the beginning.
Michener, James, A. James A. Michener's Writer's Handbook: Explorations in Writing and Publishing. New York: Random House, 1992. ISBN 0-679-74126-7, paperback (8.5 x 11 inches), 182 pp., $15.00.
Michener describes his creative process from initial idea through proofing of the galleys. He offers writers a look at how much work a seasoned professional still has to put into his books. Michener follows the life of a chapter in one of his novels from manuscript, to editor, to galleys, to final copy. In an appendix, Michener answers the questions he is most often asked by would-be writers. He explains that hard work and determination with an attitude of "I can be published" are essential to success as a writer.
Ueland, Brenda. If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence, and Spirit. 10th ed. St. Paul, Minnesota: Greywolf Press, 1997. ISBN 1-55597-260-8, trade paperback, 180 pp., $11.95.
This fine little book was originally published at about the same time as Dorothea Brande's book and must be the most inspirational writing book ever to fall into my possession. Carl Sandberg called this book, "The best book ever written about how to write." This is not a "nuts-n-bolts" book; it raises you up, brushes you off, and sends you along the path to new heights of creativity.
Bicknam, Jack. Scene and Structure. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1993. ISBN 0-89879-906-6, hardcover, 168 pp., $12.00.
This is perhaps the best book in the "Elements of Fiction Writing" series from Writer's Digest. It is a relatively advanced book for the writer who has a pretty good handle on the basic mechanics of plot, theme, style, etc. It describes the basic mechanics of stimulus-internalization-response, how that builds into scenes, how scenes build into chapters, how to compile chapters into a book. It has a section on specialized techniques for changing the pace, dealing with multiple plot lines, interrupting scenes and more. This book explains how to make a story hang together, and how to keep it from falling apart. Although many writing books cover the same general territory, Scene and Structure covers an area most fail to mention. Strongly recommended.
Block, Lawrence. Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers. Sandia: 1990. ISBN 0-9440091-1-5. Out of print.
I'm relatively new to writing and still consider myself to be at most an advanced beginner, but the first book I read about the craft of writing was _Telling Lies for Fun and Profit_ by Lawrence Block. For me, at least, the book was interesting and enjoyable, and was the first to raise my awareness of certain aspects of writing, such as the importance of choosing nouns and verbs that put color into your writing rather than relying on adjectives and adverbs. He also discusses issues such as the pros and cons of using dialect and colloquialism in character dialog.
A couple of elements show the book to be a bit dated, such as his numerous references to using a typewriter, but the large majority of the material here is unaffected by the passage of a couple of decades. A more advanced writer may consider some of the material self-evident, or arguable, but for me at least it was a worthwhile read, good enough that at some point I'll probably read Block's other books about writing.
-- Joe McCauley
Block, Lawrence. Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1979. ISBN 0-89879-208-8, trade paperback, 198 pp., $14.99.
Probably one of the most practical guides about writing that I have seen. Block reflects on the solutions to problems that he has experienced as well as referring to a survey he made of twenty or more recognized authors. His approach is very down to earth: set goals, read the type of fiction you want to write (if you don't like to read it, how do you expect to be able to write it?), diagram the structure of a novel in the genre you want to write in, and above all write every day.
Burnett, Hallie. On Writing the Short Story. HarperPerennial, 1983. ISBN 0-06-273174-2, trade paperback, $11.00
Burnett, Hallie and Whit. Fiction Writer's Handbook. HarperPerennial, 1993. ISBN 0-06-273169-6, trade paperback, $12.00.
Hallie and Whit Burnett, as founding editors of Story magazine (which has recently gone back into print as a quarterly), published the first works of writers such as Norman Mailer (who graces the first volume with a Preface), J. D. Salinger, Joseph Heller, Truman Capote, and Tennessee Williams. In these books, they bring their enormous experience to bear in chapters that deal with both the creative process and the craft of fiction.
Card, Orson Scott. Character and Viewpoint. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1988. ISBN 0-89879-307-6, hardcover, 182 pp., $15.99.
Well written and very helpful. One of the few writer's manuals I could read all the way through in one sitting.
Cook, Marshall. Freeing Your Creativity : A Writer's Guide. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1995. ISBN 0-89879-664-4, trade paperback, $14.99.
Quite a good book; covers such topics as procrastination, creative gathering etc. Not something that could be read in one sitting, but worth a read none the less, although I would suggest hunting through your local hunting through your local library before buying.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Creative Writing. Citadel Press, 1965, 1995. ISBN 0-80650-200-2, softcover, $8.95.
Although Egri's books are written with a slightly dated style, they go straight to the heart of what makes dramatic fiction truthful and exciting. These are not books with formulas or tips about writing, but rather, they analyze what it is that makes a reader care about characters, what makes them realistic, and how a compelling plot grows realistically from them.
Frey, James N. How To Write a Damn Good Novel. St. Martin's Press, 1987. ISBN 0-312-01044-3, hardcover, 174 pp., $19.95.
In a very breezy, no-nonsense style with plenty of examples, author Frey goes into precise details about establishing good characters, creating conflict within your story, coming up with a premise, changing points of view, how to come up with realistic dialog, and how to handle rewriting. Also covered is a final chapter on the "Zen of Novel Writing," giving an overall view of what kind of life you can expect, how to deal with writers block, and a plethora of other tips.
I found the book to be remarkably useful. It's reasonably short (well under 200 pages), yet zeros-in on the most important facets of writing. Whether you're dealing with novels or short-stories, I think there's a wealth of material here to ponder and peruse. There's also a bibliography of nearly two dozen additional books -- both works of fiction and books on writing -- many of which were used as examples and source material for the book. I think many would-be writers who have a trouble getting a handle on structure will get something out of Damn Good Novel, if nothing else. And his concept of Premise -- character, conflict and conclusion -- will be easy for beginners to digest.
Frey's book (and the sequel) has been enormously successful on Amazon.com, and I think for good reason. Whole college courses on writing could (and have) been taught with How To Write a Damn Good Novel; Frey teaches at the University of California at Berkeley, and his credentials are hard to criticize. I consider both this book and the sequel to be absolutely indispensible. Beginners looking for an ideal way to start writing novels need look no further.
-- Marc Wielage
Frey, James N. How To Write a Damn Good Novel II: Advanced Techniques for Dramatic Storytelling. St. Martin's Press, 1994. ISBN 0-312-10478-2, hardcover, 161 pp., $18.95.
A follow-up to Frey's original top-rated treatise, Frey's second book covers more advanced novel-writing techniques, including "The Fictive Dream and How to Induce It," how to create suspense, creating memorable characters, more on premise, developing your voice, and how to write with passion.
I found the chapter on "The Seven Deadly Mistakes" to be particularly useful: the topics here include Timidity, Trying to be Literary, Ego-Writing, Failure to Learn to Re-dream the Dream, Failure to Keep Faith with Yourself, choosing the Wrong Lifestyle, and Failure to Produce. I admired Frey's willingness to admit his own mistakes and follies from his life, even to the point of using them as examples in the chapter.
In some cases, I found what Frey wrote didn't necessarily help me directly, nor did this one have quite the same impact as his first. But what he did do was to force me to look at certain writing challenges from a different point of view. That alone was worth the trip, because it enabled me to find a way to write with more passion, with better descriptive language, and with a clearer eye to the final goal. Like the first book, I found it to be absolutely indispensible to new writers.
-- Marc Wielage
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983. Reissue ed. Vintage, 1991. ISBN 0-67973-403-1, trade paperback, 226 pp., $11.00.
John Gardner has a lot to say and often uses as many words as he can to express himself. He claims to be speaking only to those who seek to write artistic, literary fiction, but his discussions will fit every genre. Almost every sentence (and at least every paragraph) makes a challenging statement about fiction and its creation. Gardner beautifully describes the state where the reader experiences the events put on paper by the author -- and admonishes us to be very aware of how our writing affects this state. You never want to jolt your reader away from the dream you are creating in the reader's mind.
Part two presents Gardner's advice about writing, listing common errors, writing techniques, and methods of plotting. The most interesting chapter has various exercises for writers to practice which embody all the points that Gardner tried to make in the text of his book. Much of the primary message is somewhat cryptic and difficult to extract without rereading, but rereading is worthwhile.
This book is a classic, and is a must buy for anyone seriously attempting to write fiction. However, you will not find any formulas, point systems, or graphs that show you how to construct a story (well, maybe a graph or two). What you will find is meaty chapters on aesthetics, artistic mystery, fiction as dream, genre, interest, and metafiction. You will also find at the back a set of extremely useful exercises. All material is gleaned from Gardner's years of teaching graduate-level creative writing. level creative writing.
Gardner, John. On Moral Fiction. Basic Books, 1978. ISBN 0-465-05225-8, hardcover, 214 pp. Out of print.
Although first printed in 1978, Gardner's book on what is wrong and right in contemporary fiction is perhaps even more germane to writers today than it was then. This highly intelligent, provocative, humorous, and ultimately upbeat work would be valuable to novice and experienced writers alike, whether they agree with Gardner's tenets or not: the questions he asks inevitably lead the reader to deeply reflect on his or her own art.
On Moral Fiction is garnished with practical, craft-related case studies and examples of character and plot development, intertwined with clearly stated opinion on the nature of aesthetics and the creative act. The book can best be summarized by the following excerpt:
Real art creates myths a society can live with instead of die by, and clearly our society is in need of such myths. . . . Such myths are not merely hopeful fairy tales but the products of careful and disciplined thought, that a properly built myth is worthy of belief, at least tentatively; that working at art is a moral act; that a work of art is a moral example; and that false art can be known for what it is if one remembers the rules. (126)
On Moral Fiction then proceeds to explain the rules, drawing on examples from the history of literature, painting, music, philosophy, and the sciences.
Hills, Rust. Writing in General, and the Short Story in Particular: An Informal Textbook. Revised ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987. ISBN 0-395-44268-0, trade paperback, 197 pp., $14.00.
L. Rust Hills was fiction editor of Esquire Magazine for some 20 years, and his book is jam-packed with rapid-fire commentary on just about every technical aspect of crafting a short story. It is by far the most intelligent and complete such book I have come across, and makes a fine companion to Gardner's Art of Fiction mentioned above.
-- ?
Hills organized his personal ponderings and observations about the short story about the short story from his years of experience as an editor into this concise reference about the short story as a literary form. Although his tone is conversational, Hills gives an in-depth analysis of the elements of the short story, continually comparing and contrasting the short story with other literary forms. He is amazingly thorough and maintains his conversational tone through masterful transitions between each section. While reading, Hills seems to be conducting one long discussion, but in retrospect we see that he has covered many topics in detail. This smooth transition between topics also demonstrates the interdependency of the elements in the short story form -- that each element of the successful short story (character, plot, setting, tone, style) all rely so heavily on each other that to change one changes them all. This is why one can argue that any of the points of a short story is the most important, because all of the elements work together in a synergistic fashion toward the whole story.
In the afterword, Hills presents an example of his own writing process, a chaotic, meandering method that is amazing when reflecting on the coherent and organized result. It also fills writers with comfort that not everyone moves from outline to rough draft to final draft as smoothly as our College professors would have us believe.
Knight, Damon. Creating Short Fiction. Vol. 1. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1981. 3rd ed. St. Martins Press, 1997. ISBN 0-312-15094-6, trade paperback, $13.95.
Really one of the very best how-to-write handbooks I have ever read.
Lukeman, Noah. The First Five Pages. Fireside Books (Simon & Shuster), 2000. ISBN 0-684-85743-X, trade paperback, 207 pp., $11.00.
Subtitled "A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile," Lukeman's book is designed not to tell you how to write, but to tell you how not to write. The book is divided into three basic sections: "Preliminary Problems" (dealing with issues such as presentation, excessive use of adjectives and adverbs, sound, etc.), "Dialogue" (avoiding cliches, how not to be melodramatic or hard to follow, etc.), and "The Bigger Picture" (the all-important "Show, not Tell," various viewpoints, hooks, and so on.
I think the advice on how to grab the reader with the first few pages of the manuscript -- plunging the characters immediately into conflict, and introducing a dramatic element as quickly as possible -- was most useful to me. Many other the other tips may seem subtle at first, but put together, the combination proved to be extremely helpful to me.
For those who immediately react negatively when told what not to do, I can only offer you two bits of advice: first, when I went back and compared half a dozen of my favorite best-sellers against the advice in this book, I found that every one of them obeyed the rules to a "T". And secondly, I'm of the school that says, "before you can break the rules, you've got to learn what they are." Once they're mastered, then and only then can you make the decision when and how to break them.
Lukeman writes from an editor or literary agent's point of view -- understandable, given that he's a major NY-based agent -- but I think beginning writers would be wise to take heed of his words. in Like the author, I can't guarantee that if you follow the rules of The First Five Pages your book will sell. But it seems obvious to me that your manuscript won't even get past the first step if you make the basic mistakes described in the book. For that reason alone, I consider this book to be one of the most important books on writing I've read (out of several dozen).
-- Marc Wielage
Madden, David. Revising Fiction: A Handbook for Writers: 185 Practical Techniques for Improving Your Story or Novel. Plume. Reissue ed. New American Library, 1995. ISBN 0-4522-6414-6, trade paperback, $13.95.
Touches on just about anything you could think of. A good checklist/reference book.
Perry, Susan K. Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity Cincinnatti, Ohio: Writer's Digest Books, 1999. ISBN 0-89879-929-5 hardcover, 274 pp., $19.99.
For this Los Angeles Times bestseller, 76 top novelists and poets were interviewed to find out how they enter "flow," that timeless state of mind from which so much of the most creative writing emerges. Pulitzer Prize winners and bestselling authors alike, from Jane Smiley to Sue Grafton to Robert Pinsky, share their most intimate experiences related to the creative process. In addition to a careful analysis of what works and why, this compulsively readable volume features questions and answers posed by writers, as well as exercises and insights that should help any writer, whether novelist, poet, essayist, or nonfiction writer, to face the blank page with more pleasure and more satisfying results.
Reed, Kit. Revision. Writer's Digest Books, 1989. ISBN 0-89879-350-5, hardcover. Out of print.
A decent book on revising and rewriting, though I personally found most of it pretty self-evident.
Spinrad, Norman. Staying Alive: A Writer's Survival Guide. Donning, 1983. ISBN 0-89865-259-6, softcover. Out of print.
Spinrad's Writer's Survival Guide, is, as I recall, quite out of date, but good reading. Spinrad is always idiosyncratic (when he's deeply sincere, he appears to lapse out of profanity!), and a lot of the book was columns he'd written about the then-state of the sf market.
Zuckerman, Albert. Writing the Blockbuster Novel. Writer's Digest Books, 1994. ISBN 0-89879-598-2, hardcover, 218 pp., $18.99.
If Zuckerman's title seems designed to snare every dreamer, don't be put off. Writing the Blockbuster Novel actually delivers on the promise, and I speak from personal experience. This is not only a review, it is a testimonial.
In clear terms, Zuckerman explains the things a book must have in order for it to gain massive appeal in the marketplace. WTBN shows you why some books make the rest of your world vanish, and others (even by the same author) don't. Zuckerman uses many real-world examples from a handful of familiar blockbuster novels to illustrate his points. Author Ken Follett allowed Zuckerman (his agent) to include his first, second, third, and final outlines for The Man From St. Petersburg. Seeing how Follett went from a not-very-good outline to a gripping story is especially useful. Zuckerman also shows why Follett's early books (originally published in England) are not nearly as good as The Eye of the Needle and subsequent efforts.
I read WTBN in the spring of 1995 when I was almost done with the first draft of my first novel, Unintended Consequences. Zuckerman made me see how some relatively simple changes would make my story much more compelling. A month later I had a contract with a little no-name house that had never before published a work of fiction. Today this 860-page first novel is in its third hardcover printing, and is the biggest seller the publisher has ever had. I have offers for the movie rights and a contract for the sequel. If I had not read read Zuckerman's book, these things would not have happened.
-- John Ross
Card, Orson Scott. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Writer's digest Books, 1990. ISBN 0-89879-416-1, hardcover, 140 pp., $14.99.
The nuts and bolts part of the book is well handled, with solid examples d, with solid examples (from other writers' works) of handling exposition, world-building and the like. What makes the book worth the price to writers who don't workshop, or don't live in an area with other writers in easy reach, is the section on creating the "wise reader." Card explains how his wife, Kristine, became a vital part of his writing process, even though initially she knew nothing whatsoever about what "worked" in a novel.
Carr, Clarice M. The Door to Doom And Other Detections. New York: Harold Ober Associates, 1991. ISBN 1-55882-102-3. Out of print.
A recently reprinted collection, The Door to Doom and Other Detections, includes John Dickson Carr's The Grandest Game in the World. It is an essay on the art of mystery fiction, with references to authors, their styles, techniques, and contributions to the genre. It's highly prejudiced towards the "fair-play" mystery, but anyone who wants a foothold in understanding the mystery as an art form could do far worse than to take it to heart and study the many authors and works Carr uses as illustrations.
Grafton, Sue, ed. Writing Mysteries : A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America. Writers Digest Books. ISBN 0-89879-502-8, hardcover, 208 pp., $18.99.
Very thorough. Not always easy reading, but very informative.
Longyear, Barry B. Science Fiction Writer's Workshop 1: An Introduction to Fiction Mechanics. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Owlswick Press, 1980. ISBN 0-9138961-8-7, softcover, $9.50.
Longyear not only sits you down and lectures you on how to write SF that works, he shows you various examples -- from his own writing -- of what works and what doesn't by showing a first draft and then covering the processes that took the draft to the final, improved version. There is no, and never will be a, SFWW-II.
Nolan, William F. How to Write Horror Fiction. Writers Digest Books, 1991. ISBN 0-89879-442-0, hardcover. Out of print.
An excellent source book, and damn fine reading! I couldn't put it down! Well worth it!
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn, and Dean Wesley Smith, eds. Science Fiction Writers of America Handbook: The Professional Writer's Guide to Writing Professionally. 2nd ed. Eugene, Oregon: Pulphouse, 1990. ISBN 1-56146-406-6, trade paperback, 248 pp., $10.00. Out of print.
A collection of essays by SF writers on various aspects of the trade. A mixed bag, but the good stuff is very good. Mostly nuts-and-bolts, but some "how I write my masterpieces" essays. Also a very good section on contracts and copyright.
Note: SFWA has released a 3rd edition.
Williamson, J. N., ed. How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction. Writers Digest Books, 1991. ISBN 0-89879-483-8, trade paperback, $14.99.
This is quite a varied book, each chapter individually written by a such authors as Ray Bradbury, William F. Nolan., James Kisner, Dean R. Koontz, Marian Zimmer Bradley, and Robert Bloch Interesting reading, and a good reference book.
Falk, Kathryn. How to Write a Romance and Get It Published. Revised ed. New American Library, 1990. ISBN 0-451-16531-4, paperback, $7.99.
Several writers in my workshop like it; others hate it. My assessment is that it contains some useful information, some marginal generalizations, and some downright stupid advice. (My favorite: "You cannot be a successful romance novelist unless you wear silky underwear.") On the whole, this is a worthwhile book to have/read if you're interested in selling a romance novel, if only because of the extensive descriptions of the various formul of the various formulas in romance writing.
Paludan, Eve. The Romance Writer's Pink Pages: The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Romance Novel Published. Prima Publishers, 1996. ISBN 0-761501-68-1, trade paperback. Out of print.
A directory of romance publishers and agents who handle romance novels.
Pianka, Phyllis Taylor. How to Write Romances. Revised and updated ed. Writer's Digest Books, 1989. ISBN 0-89879-324-6, hardcover, 192 pp., $14.99.
If memory serves me correctly, this includes a sample synopsis that the author used to sell one of her books.
Yolen, Jane. Writing Books for Children. The Writer, 1983. ISBN 0-87116-133-8, softcover. Out of print.
Advice from a very successful author on how to research, create, and market books for the fastest-growing market. Yolen's passion and seriousness shine through every line.
Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting 3rd ed. Dell, 1987. ISBN 0-44-057647-4, trade paperback, $13.95.
Fairly heavy going in places, but overall very good.
Egri, Lajos. The Art of Dramatic Writing. Simon and Schuster, 1946, 1960, 1977. ISBN 0-67121-332-6, trade paperback, $12.00.
Although oriented towards playwriting, most of the advice applies to any dramatic fiction writing.
Barzun, Jaques. Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers. Revised ed. University of Chicago Press, 1985. ISBN 0-226-03868-8, trade paperback, 292 pp., $14.95.
Does not describe rhetoric in the classical sense, but he does give some excellent suggestions for becoming aware of and tightening up one's writing. Eye opening and well worth the reading. Although it covers mainly rhetoric, this book really applies to any kind of technical or expository writing, and to some extent narrative fiction. I'd classify it as a general purpose writing improvement book. Hardback edition out of print.
Bly, Robert W. Secrets of a Freelance Writer: How to Make $85,000 a Year. New York: Henry Holt, 1988. ISBN 0-8050-1192-7, trade paperback, 273 pp., $10.95.
Bly goes into great detail about the various kinds of writing that businesses often need: advertising (print, radio, and television), corporate reports, brochures, direct mail. He tells how to find clients that need these types of services, how much to charge, how long such jobs usually take. Bly describes how to promote yourself, find and maintain clients, and plan your time. He describes the business end of freelance work better than most, but he still skims over many areas that could be described in detail.
Corbett, Edward P. J. Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. ISBN 0-19-506293-0, hardcover, 600pp., $29.95.
Highly recommended text for learning the ins and outs of expository writing. Includes technical topics such as discovering (inventing) material, organizing material, stylistic tricks and stunts, exercises, modes of reasoning and other methods of persuasion, and examples/analysis of these techniques in actual everyday (and formal) use in prose of various people ranging from Homer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The principles described apply to any kind of prose used to persuade and inform an audience. It concentrates mainly on the written rather than the spoken word (the typical domain of Rhetoric).
Van Wicklen, Janet. The Tech Writing Game: A Comprehensive Career Guide for Aspiring Technical Writers Facts on File Books, 1992. ISBN 0-8160-2607-6, hardcover, 238pp., $22.95.
Van Wicklen is a veteran Silicon Valley technical writer, and her advice is right on the mark. Even at the hardcover price, the book is worth every penny.
-- <dianeo@genmagic.com> neo@genmagic.com>
Yudkin, Marcia. Freelance Writing for Magazines and Newspapers: Breaking in Without Selling Out. HarperCollins, 1993. ISBN 0-06-273278-1, trade paperback, $12.00.
You can count on a huge return on your investment in Freelance Writing. I don't think I've ever read a dissection of the magazine industry that was as thorough, fair-minded, and full of genuinely helpful information. The appendix includes a great bibliography of resource books.
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction. 6th ed. HarperCollins, 1998. ISBN 0-06-273523-3, trade paperback, $14.00.
Lots of good, basic advice on writing. This book is an interesting read as well as being useful.
McCaffery, Larry. Across the Wounded Galaxies: Interviews with Contemporary American Science Fiction Writers. Univ. of Illinois Press, 1991. ISBN 0-252-06140-3, trade p0-252-06140-3, trade paperback, $14.95.
Larry McCaffery is best known for his criticism of Donald Barthelme and other authors of "metafiction," but he has, in this book, compiled a stunning collection of interviews with some of America's greatest contemporary SF authors, including William S. Burroughs, William Gibson, Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, Gene Wolfe, Ursula Le Guin, Bruce Sterling, and Greg Benford. These are not fan-oriented interviews, either, but involved questions that probe each author's views about his or her craft and the state of the art in general.
Lem, Stanislaw. Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy. Harcourt Brace, 1986. ISBN 0-15-659443-9, trade paperback, $11.00.
Lem is probably one of the world's greatest living writers, and one of the few SF writers to publish a volume which analyzes the field critically. Lem makes many excellent points about the state of SF as he saw it when he was writing.
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©1996 - 2002 Terry L Jeffress