Books about Writing Fiction

Warrior Monk

What is your favourite book on writing fiction?

I've read the following:

"Story" by Robert McKee
"Writing from the Inside Out" by Dennis Palumbo
"Becoming a Writer" by Dorothea Brande
"On Writing" by Stephen King
"The Art of Dramatic Writing" by Lajos Egri

I bought them all on recommendation from writers but I have no more suggestions for me to read. I want to find the best practical books on writing. Most of the content of the books above are more theoretical than practical.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!


Warrior Monk

Daleno

I think if you've read that many books on writing and still haven't found what you're looking for you're looking in the wrong place. Books on writing are only going to be theoretical, none of them have magic solutions on how to become a successful writer, they only give advice based on their own experiences. You shouldn't need to be told how to go about writing in a practical sense.

The main advice I'll give you and beware it's also theoretical, is to write as much as you can, get it all down and then look it over with a critical eye and see what you can fix. Just keep writing, your own style and prose will develop itself.

bigsmokewriting

Elizabeth Berg's 'Escaping Into The Open' is very useful and it also includes a chapter of writing exercises/prompts, which may be closer to what you're looking for.

pavb2

http://www.amazon.com/Revision-Creative-Approach-Writing-Rewriting/dp/188491019X

I'm about half way through Revision - Kaplan,this is a real eye opener and he emphasises the need for revision revision revision. What it does is makes me look at my own work in a new light and pieces I was reluctant to change I know I need to 're build'.

He goes through the whole process of writing, notebooks,encouraging that first draft and of course revision. I like his analogies for example first draft is like building Everest but finish it no matter what to achieve something tangible then (edit/revise) climb it.

Another one he uses which is 'tear the walls of the house down and build again'. I can emphasise with this sometimes I look at revision as spelling, changing the odd word or comma etc but his message is look again until you have explored all other options for your plots, characters etc. Make your story the very best you can.

EileenG

I like "Hooked" by Lee Edgerton.

I bought "Elements of Style" today and intend to keep it in my pocket from now on.

"From Pitch to Publication" is useful, at least the first third of it.

"The First Five Pages" by Noah Lukeman.

I know it's hokey, but I keep dipping into "How not to write a novel"

Antilles

EileenG wrote: »

I bought "Elements of Style" today and intend to keep it in my pocket from now on.

To throw at potential muggers to distract them as you make your getaway? That's about all it's useful for.

Kinski

EileenG wrote: »

I bought "Elements of Style" today and intend to keep it in my pocket from now on.

The Strunk & White? How are you finding it? The linguist Geoffrey Pullum appears to devote half his freetime to an ongoing bid to bury its reputation. For example, see here. I've never read it, but tbh I wouldn't bother now; I find Pullum's case persuasive.

EileenG

There's lots of basic stuff about how to use apostrophies and when to use commas, dashes, semi-colons or breaking it into two sentences. Stuff you should know, but it's easy to forget. And I know a lot of writers who badly need to have someone (besides me) telling them to cut the passive voice and the big words.

Kinski

EileenG wrote: »

There's lots of basic stuff about how to use apostrophies and when to use commas, dashes, semi-colons or breaking it into two sentences. Stuff you should know, but it's easy to forget. And I know a lot of writers who badly need to have someone (besides me) telling them to cut the passive voice and the big words.

You're missing the point, Eileen. You can't rely on the grammatical guidance which Strunk and White provide. To pull an example from the article I linked, The Elements of Style claims inaccurately that the following sentences are passive constructions:

"There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground."

"It was not long before she was very sorry that she had said what she had."

"The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired."

And the passive voice is perfectly grammatical anyway, so there's no need to tell anyone to 'cut it,' unless they are using it inappropriately.

Do you really want advice from people who clearly don't know what they're talking about?

storker

Perhaps they're technically not passive, but they're still pretty awful. If I stumbled across any of those lines in a novel, my sense of immersion in the story would come to a shuddering halt.

"Dead leaves covered the ground."

"Before long, she regretted what she had said."

"He left college when his health became impaired"

...would read much better. IMHO of course.

stork

Rodger_Muir

You need to read "How I Became a Famous Novelist" by Steve Healy

If you plan on writing fiction and being a famous novelist, read this book!!

Kinski

storker wrote: »

Perhaps they're technically not passive, but they're still pretty awful. If I stumbled across any of those lines in a novel, my sense of immersion in the story would come to a shuddering halt.

You're also missing the point. Eileen claims that the book is useful because it contains advice on "how to use apostrophies and when to use commas, dashes, semi-colons or breaking it into two sentences. Stuff you should know, but it's easy to forget." In other words, grammatical advice. The example I've cited demonstrates that Strunk and White were not competent to provide such advice. The question of whether or not those examples culled from Strunk and White's manual are pleasing sentences is utterly irrelevant.

EileenG

It does actually say to tailor your writing to your natural style and to your subject. If you read the book rather than a critique of it, you'll see what I mean. However, I find it useful for things like basic grammar for apostrophies, (I always get confused when there are plurals involves as well as possessives), words that get mixed up or misused, how to recognise dangling clauses etc.

Kinski

I give up.

storker

Kinski wrote: »

You're also missing the point. Eileen claims that the book is useful because it contains advice on "how to use apostrophies and when to use commas, dashes, semi-colons or breaking it into two sentences. Stuff you should know, but it's easy to forget." In other words, grammatical advice. The example I've cited demonstrates that Strunk and White were not competent to provide such advice. The question of whether or not those examples culled from Strunk and White's manual are pleasing sentences is utterly irrelevant.

Sorry teacher, I stand corrected.

Poor old Stephen King, if only he knew how much S&W must be holding him back as a writer...

Stork

Antilles

Kinski is right.

If you're not a good writer without S&W you won't be one with it, and if you do somehow find S&W does improve your writing, there are better guides that will do more for you than S&W did.

Warrior Monk

I completely agree with Stork. Technically correct writing is one thing and has its place but even more important in fiction writing (which is what this thread is about) is if the sentences read well. Stork's suggested improvements for the 3 S & W sentences are clearly better in any context.

EileenG

Got to add a book here. Morgan Hawke's "The Cheater's Guide to writing Erotic Romance". I haven't even come to the erotic stuff yet, and my head is about to explode.

There is amazing stuff about nailing down the premise of your book, and the difference between a premise and a concept. How to tell who is the protaganist and the antagonist (in Moby Dick, Ahab was the antagonist, and the whale was the protagonist), and the difference between a hero and a POV character. What must be in your plot and what can be cut. How many subplots you need for different length stories. The difference between serials and series.

Antilles

With a title like that, I think I'll wait until I see it in the library!

EileenG

You won't. You can buy it on Kindle, but it's difficult to track down paper versions. Seriously worth it, though. This book is like a masterclass of writing. How to use the stages of grief to get authentic reactions. How to choreograph fight scenes, how many climaxes you need in novellas v novels.

This is a book that is definitely worth having. I'm writing a chase and fight scene, and I have it open beside me as I write.

Antilles

Ok, Eileen, I'm going to buy it. I've just gone and explained what you said to my girlfriend in case she comes across my credit card statement some day and gets the wrong idea.

EileenG

Or tell her that she's not kinky enough and you need outside research....