Books or websites to help with writing?

steve_

Im looking for a book that breaks down how to write stories. Something that goes over structure and how to develop ideas. Id like to start writing some stories but without some knowledge about how to construct the actual plot and scene i feel my efforts will be doomed from the start. Any ideas or suggestions?

Kinski

I found John Gardner's The Art of Fiction: Notes On Craft for Young Writers good. It's divided into two parts - the first contains his general theorizing about writing fiction, some of which I considered to be pretty weak. The second half is all about the practical side of things, and is mostly very useful.

EileenG

It depends on the level you are looking for.

I like "The First Five Pages" by Noah Lukeman.

I've got to admit, I keep rereading "How not to write a novel: 200 classic mistakes and how to avoid them" by Mittlemark and Newman. It's hilarious. And horribly accurate.

pauline fayne

If you want to start with short stories you might take a look at 'The classic guide to writing short fiction' by Damon Knight .
Eileen G thanks for mentioning 'How not to write a novel : 200 classic mistakes and how to avoid them'. A friend recommended it to me a while ago but i had lost my note of the details . I will try to get my hands on a copy - and possibly rescue one of my abandoned novels !

aja72

It is depend upon your thinking. What you think for any particular thing and have much knowledge you have. Can you tell me about what you want to write story.

Qualitymark

Just write. Write stories where the story comes from the characters. Listen to stories. Listen to anecdotes, and hear the way the story is set up and carried through.

And remember that there is no one version of any story: http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html

steve_

Cheers guys for the tips and ideas. Basically im in college at the moment and im studying video game design. Id love to get into the design end of things and one thing iv always enjoyed doing was writing short stories. But like any art form im sure there is some basic training i can go through in order to avoid some pitfalls down the line. I will look into getting the suggested books. My plans are not to write anything too involved, just simple short stories.

Qualitymark

steve_ wrote: »

write anything too envolved, just simple short stories.

Hah!

steve_

I don't get what's funny....

EileenG

Short stories are not simple. The good ones can be more work than a novel.

steve_

oh sorry I meant simple short stories just to begin with noting too elaborate. Just to get my feet wet. But I understand what you mean. It might snow ball into something more complex without me realizing it.

EileenG

The short stories that look the simplest are often the hardest. It's much more difficult to write a good 300 word story than a 3000 word one.

Skadi

I found a very interesting website. It is aimed at writers who want to be published and how to get your work ready for publishing.

http://www.fmwriters.com

Of particular interest is their back issue of newsletters.
http://www.fmwriters.com/Visionback

It covers topics such as creating your own language, improving your characters, for fantasy thinking about your world history and building. It is refreshing to read something that doesn't concentrate on grammar and all these rules about how you should write.

I am currently working on a fantasy novel and I find reading these articles to be very interesting and often a stimulus to explore my world and it gets me thinking about things that I never even considered. It is great also for putting ideas in my head and writing about random stuff when I just don't want to think too much about my plot and main characters.