Tonight the UPS truck stopped at my house and dropped off a small brown package.
I got a new book!
I don't know if all writers excited at the thought of reading yet another "how to" writing book.
I can't get enough. I don't think I've ever read one and not gotten at least one morsel of new knowledge from it.
Here are just a few titles I've learned much from:
1. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Browne and King)
2. Noah Lukeman's The First Five Pages
3. Stephen King's: On Writing
4. The Marshall Plan
5. First Aid for Fiction
6. Handbook of Short Story Writing (Volumes I and II by Writer's Digest)
I've read so many and each one brings something new. How to books are great for learning but no more so then reading novels in ones chosen genre.
Who would you rather operate on you: a surgeon whose read about an operation or a surgeon whose seen it?
I know what you're thinking...I'd rather have one whose actually performed the surgery! Ahh....and that's the other component to learning to write well...sit down and write.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
The Best "How To" Books on Writing
Related Posts:
Well, many somehow do, which gives the rest of us hope that one fine day, we'll knock on a door and it will actually open. Hey everyone, Maxx is a fine writer who just won a contest for his short story!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this blog. I'm finding this journey an interesting one to follow. Makes me feel like I'm not alone, because I too am working on selling my first novel while writing my second. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks C.J. Writing is a lonely process. It's sometimes downright maddening. Some days I wonder why I bother and then other days I'm sure the next envelope could be the one. I appreciate your commentl
ReplyDelete