Recommended Reading for Fiction Writers

[jilola]

Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham.
38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes by Jack M. Bickham

Elements of Style by Strunk&White

2cents & L&L
jouni

[timeless]

Dear jilola,

Thanks for the recommendations.  This is the second time someone has recommended Elements of Style by Strunk&White.  I'll be going to the library today and will order it along with the others.

Out of curiousity do you live in the part of Finland where they play Swedish baseball?  

A Thousand Thanks (as the Swedes say),
timeless[]

[jilola]

What is Swedish baseball?
If you're referring to the kind of BB where the pitcher throws the ball upwards then it's actually Finnish.
It's pretty much the national sport here so it'shard to find a place where people didn't play []

2cents & L&L
jouni

[timeless]

Dear jilola,

See I need to hang around more Finnish people.  I have only been around Swedes.  So I only have one side of the story![]

Best Regards,
timless[]

[Michael Ghostwolf]

The one I stick to (which has become something of a bible to me), is Stephen King's On Writing.

[timeless]

Dear Michael Ghostwolf,

Thank you for your recommendation. Yesterday I ordered 'On Writing' via interlibrary loan.  Steven is definitely a master of suspense.

Regards,
timeless

I would like to add another book to the list I have read:
"Scene and Structure" Bickham, Jack. M.   Rating 4 out of 5 stars
ISBN 0898795516
This book covered information not discussed in any of the other books I listed above.  It is extremely helpful for learning how to write scenes and how to link scenes. I loved Chapter 10: Common Errors in Scenes and How to Fix Them.

[timeless]

Dear Micheal,

I am loving 'On Writing' by Stevie.

To give others a flavor for this book here's the second foreward. He's a riot.[]
**************************************************************
"This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullsh*t.  Fiction writers, present company included, don't understand very much about what they do -- not why it works when it's good, not why it doesn't when it's bad.  I figureed the shorter the book, the less the bullsh*t.[]

One notable exception to the bullshipt rule is The Elements of Style, by William Strunck Jr. and E.B. White.  There is little or no detectable bullsh*t in that book.  (Of course it's short; at eighty-five pages it's shorter than this one.) I'll tell you right now that every aspiring writer should reat this book.  Rule 17 in the chapter titled Principles of Composition is 'Omit needless words'. I will try to do that here."
*****************************************************************

I also love his concept that writing is telepathy.[8D]  
Stevie's book is like a breath of fresh air (maybe it's the lack of bullsh*t)[]. I am enjoying this book.

Regards,
timeless[]

[Links Shadow]

My mom owns every single one of Steven King's books in both paperback and hardback.  I love the way he writes, he does an incredible job of developing his characters.  Also, I love the fact that he only writes about things that scare him, he does not write to scare other people, which he does anyway.  It is his way of facing his fears.  I have just started to read On Writing and am thoughroughly enjoying it.

Regards,
Link's Shadow

[timeless]

Dear Link's Shadow,

Doesn't the first section of the book make you feel like you have crawled into his mind.  Yicks!  Talk about POV.[:O]

Best Regards,
timeless

[SpectralDragon]

"The Complete Handbook Of Novel Writing"-Meg Leder, Jack Heffron, and the editors of Writer's Digest

includes interviews with and articles by authors such as Terry Brooks, Sue Crafton, James patterson, ect.
***
This has been invaulable to me in learning how to write, and has people who have proven they know what they are doing giving you advice. Highly reccommended.

[timeless]

The following books provide solid recommendations to young writers.

(1) "The First Five Pages" by Noah Lukeman (4 out of 5)
This book provides an editors perspective.  He tells us what editors look for and how writers can avoid unnecessary rejection slips.

(2) "Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card (5 out of 5)
Highly recommended for those writing fiction - a wonderful character builder.[8D]

(3) "Beginnings, Middles, and Ends" by Nancy Kress (5 out of 5)
I am an author who struggles with the beginning of my story -- middles and ends are easy for me.  This book helped solve this problem.

(4) "The Art of Creative Writing" by Lajos Egri (4 out of 5)
A good book to help develop characters.

(5) "How to Write and Get it Published" David Stode Akens (2 out of 5)
This book's strength is showing how picky editors can be.  They want writers to know the difference between breathe and breath, aggravate and irritate, awhile and a while, disinterested vs. uninterested, can and may.  They hate cliches.  They dislike when two characters have similar sounding names.  Picky, picky but important to know.


Robert recommended the following books as well. Next week I will order these from the library.  I will provide author names at that time.

The Art and Craft of Novel Writing (Author?)

Reader Over My Shoulder (Author?)

More to come.  Please feel free to add to this reading list.  I would appreciate it.[]