The Next Best Book Club discussion

Has anyone else always wanted to write a book? If so, have you found any useful books about writing?

Depends what you want to write.

Most books on writing are junk. Most information on the Internet is junk. Sad but true.

What's the status of your current writings, Saved? What did the professor say?

Gosh, Saved, keep us posted! That's great news! I'd love to read it if you wanted to PM it to me. I think it's terrific that you wrote something that your English professor said is publish-worthy. Don't give up on it! And I would ask your professor, definitely!

I've written two books and working on another, but I've never read any books on writing.....I like looking at other people's styles through many different types of genres. I've also found it handy reading what other Goodreads people write. ( Saved By Grace, I just started reading some of yours, they're really good! )

For books on writing, I highly recommend Anne Lamott's "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life." I keep it by my bedside for whenever I need some inspiring words - or when the revision devils are sitting on my shoulder telling me that what I've just written is crap. (That is from another writing book, can't remember the title.) There's also, "What a Writer Needs" which is really for writing teachers but works for everyone.

And I've added "Writing Down the Bones" to my "to read" list.

Thanks for the suggestions, Eileen. I enjoyed Bird by Bird and am reading WDTBones now but I've never read What a Writer Needs, so have to ck that one out.

PM is private message Saved.

MeMe, I've been budding for years.

I love a book that is not a writing book, but it really kicks me in the butt. Stephen King: On Writing. He talks about his life and his writing life, and inadvertently (or maybe not so inadvertently). There is nothing technical in it, it is just a real inspirational story.

You're cool, Saved. I try to abbrev. as much as possible now that my carpal tunnel's acting up (due to my GR addiction!!) Thanks for your suggestion, also, Liz...I feel like I read that years ago, but I should probably take another look.

I second Bird by Bird and Writing Down the Bones! Both are terrific for inspiration. Also, Stephen King's, On Writing and Ray Bradbury's, Zen in the Art of Writing come to mind. Oh, and Brenda Ueland’s, If You Want to Write. You can never have enough books on inspiration IMO. :-)

A published writer friend of mine recommended some books that really helped her, but mainly what she said helped her the most was just plain reading---and lots of it! I can't recall what I did with the list she gave me, but one of the ones she highly recommended and I've read most of it (but as you can tell, I really need to read more!) is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King. It’s a great book filled with examples of common mistakes writers make and how to notice them and actually FIX them.

For the publishing process my friend recommended How to Get Happily Published, by Judith Appelbaum, which gives an overview of the publishing process and goes into all the different pro’s and con’s of self-publishing vs traditional methods of publishing. My friend chose the traditional route, but it took some doing.

I’ll try to find that list and post more soon.

Ahh, I remembered a few more that my friend recommended (but that I have not read yet):

1) The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, 3rd Edition - Christopher Vogler

2) Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them -Francine Prose

I remember my friend saying that the second book was wonderful, but that it made her feel like everything she wrote was crap. Spoken like a true writer. lol.

Instead of reading that Vogler book, why not go to the source and read The Hero with a Thousand Faces?

Various derivatives of Joseph Campbell that I've encountered push you towards a formulaic interpretation of the arc of the hero.

Best writing book I've run into is The Making of a Story. John Gardner's On Becoming a Novelist is also useful, but you have to take Gardner with a grain of salt.

Anything I've read from Writers' Digest Books has been junk. The fact is, writing about writing is the oldest scam in the trade.

I also saved this site a while back. Not sure if it's helpful or not, I haven't even scratched the surface. It supposedly gives the 101 best websites for writers.

http://www.writersdigest.com/101BestS...

I like to write and when I was younger would write all the time. Now I know how hard it really is so I just write for fun and haven't done it in years.

Anyone here venturing into Nanowrimo this year?
This will be my 5th year. If anyone is interested and doesn't know what it is, check it out.

http://www.nanowrimo.org