I'm looking for a resources on the art of writing. Help?

[AoNoDoY]

So for months I've been looking and looking and looking for a website or blog that is devoted to the art of writing. I mean strictly the art. And you know? I'm not finding anything. Am I not being creative enough in my search?

I hope this hasn't been covered elsewhere on Lit, I looked but didn't see anything. Please PM me if you know of a blog or site that sounds like this:

-Ruminations on writing and its relation to living
-Links to craft-oriented articles and interviews.
-Profiles of the craft of well-known writers
-Not about erotica (this is something I will be viewing at work, the odd piece on erotica would be okay, but it can't be the focus)
-NOT about the business of publishing and NOT about marketing writing. I think they're both fascinating topics, just not what I'm looking for here.

Have you run across such a blog? You'd think it would be easy to find something like this, but it's not.

I don't care for Writer's Digest (I object to their limited definition of success, and they're all about business); poets.org is okay but the forum does nothing and the site overall is very organizational rather than personal. Any ideas?

 

[EroticOrogeny]

So for months I've been looking and looking and looking for a website or blog that is devoted to the art of writing. I mean strictly the art. And you know? I'm not finding anything. Am I not being creative enough in my search?

I hope this hasn't been covered elsewhere on Lit, I looked but didn't see anything. Please PM me if you know of a blog or site that sounds like this:

-Ruminations on writing and its relation to living
-Links to craft-oriented articles and interviews.
-Profiles of the craft of well-known writers
-Not about erotica (this is something I will be viewing at work, the odd piece on erotica would be okay, but it can't be the focus)
-NOT about the business of publishing and NOT about marketing writing. I think they're both fascinating topics, just not what I'm looking for here.

Have you run across such a blog? You'd think it would be easy to find something like this, but it's not.

I don't care for Writer's Digest (I object to their limited definition of success, and they're all about business); poets.org is okay but the forum does nothing and the site overall is very organizational rather than personal. Any ideas?

Are you interested in writing in general, or poetry specifically?
I assume you've done the obvious and Googled 'art of writing'.
I tried that and found some things which might be interesting to follow.
Several sites have info on forms (including here - the first page of Survivor Challenge for example, or some posts in the latest bonus round). Some general lit info on writing - both erotic and in general.
Does that provide any more material?
Maybe some other readers know more (pretty likely).

Good luck and keep trying !

 

[UnderYourSpell]

You'd probably get more help if you posted this in the writing section of this board

 

[AoNoDoY]

Are you interested in writing in general, or poetry specifically?
I assume you've done the obvious and Googled 'art of writing'.
I tried that and found some things which might be interesting to follow.
Several sites have info on forms (including here - the first page of Survivor Challenge for example, or some posts in the latest bonus round). Some general lit info on writing - both erotic and in general.
Does that provide any more material?
Maybe some other readers know more (pretty likely).

Good luck and keep trying !

Hi EO, I'm interested in both poetry and prose. I did try "art of writing" but that doesn't seem to lead to what I'm looking for. I'm not specifically interested in poetry forms at this time, though someday I will get around to learning some forms

I'm interested in form more than forms, if that makes sense. Like short story form and I suppose free verse form more than anything. Even the form of the novel.

I guess it just seems like there are so many blogs out there on a variety of topics, for my work for instance, I subscribe to several e-newsletters and have a choice of I swear hundreds of blogs. It seems there would be a blog produced by a person who had similar writing interests as me, so I'm trying to find out if that's true. There are so many freakin' blogs out there, you know?

Every once n a while I find a writing blog I like, then comes the inevitable streak of business-oriented posts and it really drives me crazy.

There must be somebody out there who sees the blog as a writing form in itself, rather than as a means to marketing themselves to land a book contract.

Thanks for your help. I'll check out the resources you've mentioned on lit.

You'd probably get more help if you posted this in the writing section of this board

I was thinking I would do that after I posted here. It seems to me poets are generally more apt to be interested on the non-monetary side of writing, which is why I posted here first.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Do you really want somebody elses style? Write for yourself see where it takes you, the exploring of your own abilties is such fun don't let anyones elses ideas bog you down and crush what is intrinsically your own voice ...... best of luck

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

So for months I've been looking and looking and looking for a website or blog that is devoted to the art of writing. I mean strictly the art. And you know? I'm not finding anything. Am I not being creative enough in my search?

I hope this hasn't been covered elsewhere on Lit, I looked but didn't see anything. Please PM me if you know of a blog or site that sounds like this:

-Ruminations on writing and its relation to living

I recommend Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. I think half.com often has very cheap copies of it.

ETA:

I would also suggest not getting to focused on learning about the art of writing. You can find some great resources for writing as an art form, but if you are interested in writing, you need to find your own voice and enthusiasm for this art form.

 

[AoNoDoY]

Do you really want somebody elses style? Write for yourself see where it takes you, the exploring of your own abilties is such fun don't let anyones elses ideas bog you down and crush what is intrinsically your own voice ...... best of luck

I recommend Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. I think half.com often has very cheap copies of it.

ETA:

I would also suggest not getting to focused on learning about the art of writing. You can find some great resources for writing as an art form, but if you are interested in writing, you need to find your own voice and enthusiasm for this art form.

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty comfortable with my own little writing habit, I have all kinds of enthusiasm and all kinds of unique approaches and practices, I suppose I'm just looking for somebody else who feels the way I do about writing. You know, trying to find a little community and understanding and all that. I get that here in some ways, I guess it's just another part of me looking for something else.

I'm pretty leery of "how-to write" stuff. On the one hand, some of the how-to write people are full of shit, but on the other hand, I've picked up a few things here and there that have been very helpful for me, that helped my writing a great deal that I maybe never would have figured out for myself. I mean, in some senses it's great to find your own path, etc. But on the other hand, I don't think it's absolutely necessary to reinvent the wheel every step of the way. One time I picked up something very helpful from an interview I heard on the radio. I feel so bad because I flipped to it in the middle of the show and didn't even catch who the author was! Another time, I was looking at a list of how-to write books that they were distributing at the library. One of the books caught my eye because the write-up made it sound like the authors had some things in common with me philosophically, so I got the book and I found some good stuff in it. I even wrote emails to the authors to see if they could recommend a website or blog or resource but they didn't have anything!

I guess this imaginary ideal web resource of mine wouldn't be a how-to thing, either, it would be more or less people talking about their experiences.

As far as book vs web resource, it's hard for me to read a book when I'm at my work desk. That's one of the reasons I'm going after a web site. Another reason is I really like the immediacy and "aliveness" of a blog. It's nice to know the other person is living and breathing and working to get the thing out there. It's kind of like watching television or listening to the radio. Sometimes I prefer television over a DVD because I like to know that somewhere out there somebody else is watching the same program as me!

Basically, I'm trying to maximize my time. When I am home I am busy with writing and other responsibilities. I have a few minutes here and there at work that I would like to use for writing or at least writing-related reading. I have been able to do actual writing at work, but it's kind of risky because I don't have much privacy. And quite frankly, I'm usually in some kind of weird mood at work that doesn't feel all that conducive to writing. Though it would be worthwhile to try to get that mood down on paper, I suppose.

Still, even if I used that time for writing, it wouldn't help solve my little issue of feeling like I'm going it alone in the wilderness.

Well whatever, I'm rambling. Thanks for the replies. ETA: I'm adding the Bradbury book to my list. Thanks.

 

[Angeline]

I recommend Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. I think half.com often has very cheap copies of it.

ETA:

I would also suggest not getting to focused on learning about the art of writing. You can find some great resources for writing as an art form, but if you are interested in writing, you need to find your own voice and enthusiasm for this art form.

Your post got me thinkin.

This is very good advice. I think the best books about writing don't so much give you ideas for what to write but what not to do, like Strunk and White. Otherwise it's best to just read all the writing (including poetry) you can, and find who you like. When you've found a handful of writers that really appeal to you, like you wouldn't mind writing like them, decide what it is about they way each writes that you love. Somewhere in those answers is your own writer's voice. And then just keep writing.

Anyway people here love to talk about how they write. And if you do challenges and such, you can compare what you do to others. That's the beauty of this place. And you can make as little or as much as you want of it. And sometimes Wicked Eve comes on and shows photos of her dildoes, which keeps everyone interested.

 

[champagne1982]

I don't like to send people surfing away from Litland but there's a site, and yes, it's somewhat devoted to the ultimate goal of most writers, publication; however, there's a great support community that sometimes offers valuable insight at Editred . There are flash fic fans and novel writers along with a very vocal population of poets (who've seemingly cornered the message board right now) who offer challenges, support and advice on the craft of writing as well as the inevitable side-line of writing for publication.

The worst that can happen is that you find it far removed from what you'd like to experience even though, in some parts, the site could be exactly what you're looking for.

Good Luck...

 

[AoNoDoY]

Thanks Angeline and Champagne. I'll check out the site that was mentioned.

An update is that I've started to look more toward playwrights... I've found playwrights love to geek out on the art side of things, and I don't think there are very many of them who think they are going to make money.

It's funny because I've been trying to figure out a way to get involved in writing things for theater or a screenplay, I have actually written a couple of short ones, because I feel like writing for screen or stage there are such different story forms that it might be a good way for me to work on plotting with my characters. (I've worked on plots, and recently been doing a lot of character sketches and trying to write in character, but now I'm having a hard time combining character with plot).

So it seems like reading the thoughts and feelings of playwrights toward the art of writing is a natural enough progression. And I've even started to work on a short animation to "act out" my little screen play.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

 

[poetedge5455]

Not blogs buut books

THE MIND OF YOUR STORY Disvover what drives your fiction
Lisa Lenard-cook

BECOMING A WRITER
Dorathea Brande (personally my fav)

FROM WHERE YOU DREAM
Robert Olen Butler

THE WRITER'S JOURNEY
Christopher Vogler

Anything by Natalie Golberg especially WRITING DOWN THE BONES

Same for Ann Lamott BIRD BY BIRD

3AM EPIPHANY can't rember author and another poetry slut has it right now, lol

CREATING POETRY same SOb has that one. Both are Borders books so author should be an easy find

 

[AoNoDoY]

Thanks Poetedge. Some of those books I have run across and others I haven't. They look like books I would like.

I wanted to give an update that I have found some playwrite sites that seem to geek out on the art side of writing that I can actually view at work.