I think I might want to write. But I’m not sure to start.
Do any of you have books on writing you think might be useful? I’d appreciate your thoughts.
Stephen King’s On Writing.
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain. I haven’t read King, but Swain deals with the nuts and bolts of writing a story. It’s a bit dated (it originally came in on 1965), but it’s still and extremely solid guide. It’s still in print after all these years, which shows it had some real staying power.
King’s book is good. Also Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott.
I am not a writer, but I hate to see the thread die with so few responses, so I’ll throw out a couple more suggestions.
Quite a while back, I stumbled across and enjoyed a couple of books on writing by Lawrence Block.
And I thought No Plot? No Problem!, by the guy behind NaNoWriMo, had some interesting things to say.
I’m not surprised that Stephen King’s On Writing got mentioned. It’s arguably the most famous book on writing, and it is well worth reading (whether or not you’re a fan of King’s fiction), but it’s not without controversy, since what works for King doesn’t work for everybody. In fact, everything I’ve heard and read leads me to believe that different writers work in different ways, and there’s no one Right Way to write fiction.
This. I have most of the “classic” books on writing, and this is the one that, in my opinion, has the most nuts-and-bolts value.
Another good one, more for exhortative value than anything, is If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland.
Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions!
I’m not sure I believe that I can write fiction. I really only have one voice (and you’ve all heard it.) But I’m curious about some of the nuts and bolts of it.
I will definitely read the suggestions you’ve thrown out.
I have found information of value at writers’ websites. Many post their insights and recommendations. Check the sites for writers you like, and see what you find. I found some gems that I use.
I believe you can write fiction, for what it’s worth.
Save the Cat! is great but its about writing screenplays, not novels. Almost everything can be applied to fiction also though.
Have read stuff by Shirley Jackson talking about writing in years past. Here she is in a three parter in the New Yorker talking about writing.
The Lottery was a masterpiece.
The New Yorker lets me see it free. Hopefully this is true for everyone.
If you write genre fiction and don’t mind quite a bit of potty-mouth (and very funny!) language, try Chuck Wendig’s The Kick-Ass Writer.
I recommend Lawrence Block’s Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers and James Scott Bell’s Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure. Once you’ve got a first draft of a story or book, I recommend Sandy Asher’s Writing It Right!: How Successful Children’s Authors Revise and Sell Their Stories, whether or not you’re writing for children.