selfavowedgeek ([info]selfavowedgeek) wrote,
@ 2008-05-11 21:40:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Current mood: curious

Wonderin' 'bout Books 'bout Writin'
There are only a handful of books about the craft that have stuck with me over the years.  I'd much rather read a variety of genres first, write second, then worry about the books about writing.  But I can't shake the simple, concise advice of ol' Strunk and White's Elements of Style along with the "Hey, you, yeah, Constant Reader" tack of Stephen King in On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.  Then there's Ernest Hemingway on Writing, a bundle of letters compiled and edited by Larry W. Phillips; love or hate  Papa, there's still much to redeem the man as writer in these collected correspondences. And then today I had to flip back through Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing: pithy, succinct, utilitarian--just as I like it.  

So how about your own fave books on the writerly craft? 


(Post a new comment)


[info]nikwdhmos
2008-05-12 06:41 pm UTC (link)
"Spider, Spin me a Web" and "Telling Lies for Fun and Profit" are pretty good reads.

I used to be a strict adherent to the beliefs of the Strunk and White collective as well. I still believe that most new writers MUST read it, and that it will help them incredibly. But for me, it became a set of zipties around my wrist. It cut off the blood more and more until I couldn't type anything but Subject Verb Object (hyperbole warning!). It sawed my hands off with the jagged tops of complete sentences and commas and semicolons.

Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and "All the Pretty Horses" finally freed me. I don't think they count as "books on writing", but they showed me how I could break the rules and commit all sorts of writerly sins and get away with it. Maybe my stuff will never sell. Who knows? But I like my writing more, and that's all that really matters to me. :)

(Reply to this)

[info]selfavowedgeek
2008-05-12 08:52 pm UTC (link)
Now you're talking! I've read _The Road_, _Blood Meridian_, and _No Country for Old Men_. Don't get me wrong about Elements of Style. I like the concise advice and pointed samples in the text. However, once one knows, understands, and can write according to the rules, then one should sometimes branch and bend and break the rules to suit the intent, form, and final product.

(Reply to this)

[info]snickelish
2008-05-13 09:30 pm UTC (link)
Actually, the place I've been learning the most about writing lately is [info]matociquala's blog. She's on hiatus from her novel at the moment, but when she's in full novel-writing mode reading her blog is pure inspiration as she talks about how she's pulling character threads together, figuring out the theme, tweaking her prose. She writes a dedicated craft post about once a week, as well.

(Reply to this)

[info]selfavowedgeek
2008-05-13 10:10 pm UTC (link)
Thanks, snickelish. I visited her LJ and loved it. It'll be a staple of my LJ diet now.

(Reply to this)

Create an Account
Forgot your login?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…