I tend to wonder why a fiction writer would have to write a non-fiction how to book. Personally I research advice from authors I particularly enjoy especially if they have a pleasing style.
I love reading how-to write fiction books; they amuse me greatly, and although I don't follow the advice much, they make me want to start writing the second I'm finished. Yeah, it's weird. ;D
I agree with the general sentiment that most how-to books about writing fiction are not well done or helpful. But there are a few exceptions, and I am comfortable recommending these two: Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella The Dramatic Writer's Companion by Will Dunne. Both are actually focused on dialogue and scene creation (though the second also deals extensively with character- and story-level considerations,) but they're very good at what they do, and scene creation is vital to writing fiction -- meaning these two books are quite useful.
I have Chiarella's book. It's ok, but I found a lot of the suggestions pretty obvious. It's best as a collection of reminders, if you need them.
Yeah I thought that way too...when I read, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel...by: Tom Monteleone But when I gotta critique by a professional writer, editor from somewhere, I rather not say, I got turned off from writing the first one in the first place Is that weird or what? Hahaha...whatever.
I think everyone is different. For me there were a few how-to books that changed the way I invent a story, and for the better. I share the information that changed how I come up with a story in a you tube series, which is in my sig. The most helpful books for me have been: Between the Lines, by Jessica Morrell. Anatomy of Story, by John Truby. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, by Joseph Williams (This is more an indepth and modern version of Elements of Style.) I got way more from this than I did from Elements of Style.
Personally, writing should not have rules. There are no limits. You write and you put effort and thought into it. But if you feel you really need a book to get you started, then maybe you should read the Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel by Thomas Monteleone. I enjoyed reading it back when I loved reading 'how-to' books. At the time, I thought it was the only book that I can rely on. It always put me in a writing mood.
As one of my close friends would say "How-to books are bad for the brain, you get more understanding outta a toliet than you do from those waste of breathing air." Btw, my friend was very open about her opinions on things so this is an edited, more clean version of her exact words. What I'm trying to say though, is forget the how-to books. My belief is, if you have an imagination or some corny, not believable idea, you can write fiction. If your wondering how it's done, go to your local library or bookstore and read like there's no tomorrow.
I think making use of all means of writing is a good way to improve your own. Everything from "how-to" books to good, mediocre, and bad books. As a matter of fact, reading a "how-to" book isn't much different than reading all the rules about writing you'll find in this forum—take everything with a grain of salt, and note that any seeming ultimatums are (completely) situational suggestions.
Me! Either change xxx about your story or you will be unpublishable for all eternity!!!!! muahahahaha
I've read several, and I think they helped me at first. I may read more as a devourer of a great variety of books, but I'm getting past the point where they're especially useful. I do think they have value in getting you started, however. They can also teach you some things about the art of writing that you might not learn just from reading novels, and these can aid in discussions with other writers. For example, there were some discussions on this forum regarding "third person omniscient" verses "third person limited," and I was well versed in the differences and able to discuss them, because I had read about them in writing books and I knew what they meant. King's On Writing had some advice that helped, and some advice that hindered. The "plotless, planless writing" that King espouses may work for some, but it didn't work for me. I think I actually spent some wasted time, trying to follow his advice instead of my instinct that said, plan before you write. I recommend the Writer's Coach, both for its advice and for its humor. It's a really funny book. It had a list of bad analogies, for example, that cracked me up. It also contained many of the grammatical pointers contained in the Elements of Style. Now, I'm only guessing, but I don't think that's it. Perhaps it's my naive belief in the goodness of others, but I think they sincerely want to help beginning writers to learn and grow as writers. It may also be that they have been asked so many questions from budding authors and, knowing they cannot possibly answer them all, they want to give detailed answers to a broader audience. Charlie
I think you're right on target concerning the advantages of how-to-write books helping to give language to the kinds of issues that you can learn from in discussion. It's hard to learn anything without having a way to conceptualize it through language, and these books are helpful in addressing particular kinds of problems and solutions. They can also be very useful in providing ideas about how to approach writing so that it jiggles loose the creativity and freedom to discover your own writing potential and direction, too--i.e., they're usually at least about techniques that have worked for the writer (of the how-to- book). As to SK's book, I thought that was very clearly a book that his publisher had asked him to write. I felt he was annoyed by having to do this, but did it reluctantly. And while it's always interesting to me to know how a particular writer addresses his own writing challenges, I wasn't overly impressed with the outcome of his book, myself. I know writers who've written how-to books for the obvious $$$ they hope to see as a consequence, so I'm sure many of them fall into that category, as Cogito suggests. Why else would you waste your time writing them if not for "the market," plain and simple, although some are certainly better than others. Even so, no how-to- book is going to be THE lone roadmap to an artistic endeavor, IMO, and is very likely to be disappointing to anyone who views it that way.
You don't think a possible motivation is, the genuine desire to help people improve their writing skills, and to answer the questions they've so often posed about writing? Sure, there are going to be some who would do it for the money, but I wouldn't dismiss altruistic reasons as a "waste of time." I personally think it's more likely the altruistic reasons. I doubt there's all that much money in writing books as opposed, say, to a shocking novel with blockbuster-film potential... I think many people write to share information, because they genuinely want to get the information out there. (I also got the impression that Stephen King wrote his writing book under duress. He sure didn't write it because he needed the money! He also seems to have altruistic view toward budding writers... but I really don't think he enjoys writing nonfiction.) Charlie
I once read a how-to book, related to writing screenplays. The author had the most bitter voice I've ever seen on paper. He was some big-shot editor, and drew all his experience from having read 100.000 screenplays, but as he admitted himself in the book, he was a huge failure as a writer himself. So much that his own attempts at writing had lead him into a serious drug abuse... After reading the book my only thought was "I never want to be like this guy." and I discarded all his cynical advice. I did learn one thing from it, though... Don't follow advice that conflict with your own gut-feeling. Pick the ones you can agree to; the ones that enhances what you want from your writing. Then discard the rest.
I don't dismiss any kind of altruism as a waste of time, and there are certainly people who like to share experiences they think will help others, as SK probably does himself every now and again. My impression was that he didn't think very much of the idea of writing a how-to book for writers, that maybe it was a kind of arrogant thing to do in spite of a publisher who knew it would reap a return, if only because it had SK's name on it. You might be right that he also doesn't enjoy writing nonfiction. I can't imagine he enjoys it as much as he enjoys writing his fictional stories.
I probably worded that badly, I didn't think you were dismissing altruism so much as... I think most writers who write how-to books on writing do so because they want to help writers. I wasn't sure if you agreed that that's what motivates most authors of those books--and hey, I may be wrong that that's what motivates those authors, sometimes I am a bit naive. What I meant and worded poorly was not, that you would dismiss altruism, but that I wouldn't dismiss the idea that altruism might be what motivates authors of writing books. I can see, of course, that you agree that that is sometimes the motivation. That was the feeling I got, for example, when I read "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott. I had the feeling that she wrote the book because she really wanted to get a message across to budding writers, to help them. I didn't think at all that she did it for money or to feed her ego, and I doubt she made much money off of it. (If she did do it for ego, she did a wonderful acting job--she sometimes has a self-deprecating sense of humor in the book.) I really got the sense that she wanted to encourage others to write. I absolutely agree with you on Stephen King, and Stephen King is probably an exception--I think he wants to help writers, but I also think he was pushed into writing that particular book.
Actually, it's probably not a bad idea to take any how-to-write book (even, for that matter, any how-to-write criticism or feedback) as a generous sharing on the part of its author. And, as with all generous sharings, there's no reason to think that what's being shared is likely to benefit everyone. I think HorusEye's concise bit of advice illustrates exactly that thought: "Don't follow advice that conflict with your own gut-feeling. Pick the ones you can agree to; the ones that enhances what you want from your writing. Then discard the rest."
I agree, and can give a real example: I came up with the idea for my novel... I had in my mind the main premise, some of the characters and a few specific scenes I wanted to include, and had begun my research, when I read the very first writing book that I ever read, which was Stephen King's On Writing. In it, King recommends against plotting. Just write, he said. My instincts said, "I should really plan this thing," but instead, I took his advice, and just wrote, 100 pages of directionless trash. I eventually scrapped it, came up with an overall plan for the novel, wrote a plot summary, and dove in... and the novel came out much, much better. Which worked for me. King's method might work for someone else, and I'm sure it was well intended, but for me, it simply did not work. HorusEye's advice, to me, was spot-on correct. Charlie
Books on learning how to write better? Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a good book that teaches people how to write better? Not specifically a guide on how to write a novel or anything, but simply a good guide on how one can become a better writer in general? Perhaps, a book on the many different types of writing styles? Different elegant ways to string together sentences....... et,c etc. Aside from the guide, of course, one way to become better at writing is to simply read more books and completely immerse oneself in the world of literature. A friend of mine had introduced me to a few writers I should get acquainted with; here is a list he has provided for me: Joseph Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness" DH Lawrence's "The Rainbow" Hardy Dostoevsky Hawthorne TS Eliot Turgenev Tolstoy Fielding Wilde Whitman Tolstoy and many, many others... does anyone have any books they would recommend? one that contains an elegant writing, or a style that is worthy of note?
If you normally read modern authors and he's adding some classics, OK, sure. But if you don't normally read a lot of books, period, I'd recommend adding some less lofty, and more modern, choices. I don't know which to suggest , because I don't know what kinds of books you like to read. ChickenFreak
yeah, i dont usually read a lot of books To be honest, the reason why I have rekindled my interest in reading and writing is all thanks to a gentlemen on a forum. After reading his posts, I was left in awe. The recent books i've read was probably George R. R. Martin's series: A song of Ice and Fire. It belongs in the fantasy genre, however, it's not a typical fantasy series like many would've imagined. On top of the juicy content, the writing is superb! Are those classics he suggested above really that difficult to read?
