What are your thoughts on books about writing? I've read a few that tend to be by authors I admire. In other words, I already know they can back up what they're saying. I think one of my favorited was "Object Lessons" put out by The Paris Review. It was a mix of short stories by the greats with commentary or somewhat literary analysis by some of todays top writers. I read it when it first came out and found it interesting. I've read Stephen King's "One Writing" a few times. There have been others as well, but I do prefer these how-to-write books to be written by someone I know knows how to write. Do any of you have a favorite how-do-write book? What sets it apart from others like it? What sort of things have you gotten from these books? Do you think they are worth the time or would you rather just read a novel? If anyone has a must-read suggestion, please share.
I've also read On Writing by King and liked a lot of what he had to say in it. Probably my favorite though is The Art of Fiction by John Gardner. I had first read a book of his called Grendel that was incredible—a re-telling of the events of Beowulf from the viewpoint of the monster Grendel. It's the book that eventually kicked off this trend we have now with presenting the story of the evil character, like Darth Vader's story being presented in the prequel trilogy, Wicked, the Rob Zombie Halloween film, Maleficent, Cruella, etc. But Gardner did it first and best by far IMO.
I've read On Writing and parts of The Art of Fiction (agree that Grendel is a great book, btw) and I enjoyed both. Years ago, I read Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King, and at the time I found that one quite helpful (if a bit repetitive at times). It's less about editing per se than a book about techniques for producing better writing.
There's another book by an editor I really liked. It's Called Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein. And there's a followup called How to Grow a Novel, but as I recall it isn't as good as the first one. Sorry, he isn't an author, and I also wasn't already familiar with his work, but it is one of my favorite books on writing craft. Like the Gardner book, it doesn't deal with story structure or character arc or any of those devices, but is more nuts and bolts. Hard to explain (plus my memory of what it covers is a bit hazy now, it's been a while). I should skim through these books again and refresh my memory on what they cover.
I've recommended this book on other threads, but it's worth a repeat. It's not a book on writing structure, but on the writing process. Author Brenda Ueland firmly believed: Everyone is talented, original and has something important to say. The book helps you find that spark to unlock your talent and imagination and create art. If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit
I’d also recommend pretty much anything by Donald Maass; he’s a major literary agent and editor, and has a knack for describing writing techniques in ways that are a little different than most advice you find, and ways that often click for me. I’ve read his ‘Writing the Breakout Novel’ and ‘The Emotional Craft of Fiction’.
Although I'm not familiar with Robert Silverberg's fiction, I really enjoyed his craft book Science Fiction 101. As a young writer, he analyzed stories by his favorite authors to figure out what made them work, then took those lessons and applied them to his own writing. This book collects 13 of those stories and pairs them with craft essays explaining the lessons that Silverberg took from them, including notes about general writing, the short story form, and the peculiarities of science fiction. It's a great structure, essentially a complete sci-fi writing class in a single book. I'd definitely recommend it to any aspiring sci-fi writer, or even just people looking for a quality anthology of classic SF stories from the '40s to the '60s.
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg gave me things to think about when I read it 30 years ago. I didn't carefor her subsequent books, but I recall that I did like this one.
I tend to not read "how to" books. I had to read them in college while i was pursuing Creative Writing and i found that, the more i read them, the more i tried to write like them and the harder it became for me to just write. It didnt flow as easily because i was so focused on following the directions to a T. So now i dont read them and i feel like that helps me more. That isnt to say that if im stuck on a concept, i wont pick one up. Ill find one when i need it, and read the chapters Relevant yo what im working on. But i will say my favorite "on writing" book was a book about symbolism. Basically, the jist of it is EVERY story has been recycled and there is NO originality in the sense of a pure and unique story. For some reason, i found that comforting. It gives examples of common types of stories (like general premises). And it touches on the symbolism in those stories. I gotta find what the title is.... Ill be back with it when im on my laptop (im currently on my phone). Another one i liked was the different styles of Literary Criticism and how write/analyze/critique in those styles. I liked it because, at the time (undergrad), i had to write a bunch of essays on a bunch of topics which would then be compiled into a portfolio Senior year to be critiqued by the English department professors. Me being a Type A perfectionist wanted my papers and my arguments to be top notch!
