Recommendations.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Okay! I want recommendations for to-die-for writing skills books. I have a ton of them but want to see what I missed in the way of gotta-have books. I'm making a book order.

Which one of your how-to-write books can you NOT live without? In a paragraph, why is it so good?

 

[BlackShanglan]

Adam Sexton's "Master Class in Creative Fiction" is outstanding stuff.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thank you. I dont have that one.

 

[maggot420]

Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down The Bones" was very helpful.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thank you.

 

[Eroscribe67]

Well, the best advice I can give on this...and the others gave great ones...but I'd have to say pick out some of your favorite authors works--short stories and/or novels--and read them and see what the authors does with structure, plotting, dialogue, continuity, all of it. Works for me.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I asked for a recommendation NOT advice.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Well, the best advice I can give on this...and the others gave great ones...but I'd have to say pick out some of your favorite authors works--short stories and/or novels--and read them and see what the authors does with structure, plotting, dialogue, continuity, all of it. Works for me.

That's one of the things that I really enjoy about Sexton's book. He follows that model, using examples from Joyce, Austin, Conrad, and others with detailed discussions of each as examples of how authors have executed individual elements of the craft.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

BlackShanglan

I'm reading an H.L.Mencken biography, and I believe he did exactly the same thing with several of the authors Sexton cites.

 

[bluebell]

My favorite is Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott.
She doesn't gloss things over, is very truthful about "shitty first drafts" and the myriad of other nuances that pop up when dealing with the printed word.
She gives suggestions for the hows and whys but ultimately leaves you feeling free to figure out what works for you (I hate when I read a book and feel put upon by the opinions of the author).
She also has no reservations about using the word "fuck" when addressing frustration.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thank you

 

[jomar]

I'm checking in here for some books. James, you suggested some good ones to me. Thanks to you, and all.

 

[Handprints]

Strunk and White's "Elements of Style" is fantastically useful for sentence-level grammar, syntax and usage. It offers useful ways to achieve greater clarity and avoid common problems.

Above the sentence/paragraph construction level, I have to admit I haven't seen anything that offered more than what one's high school teachers should have been able to teach.

The few that I've flipped through usually remind me of Mario Puzo's experience. A couple of years after he'd (somewhat unwillingly) adapted the "The Godfather" into a film script, he decided to try to supplement his novelist income by writing spec screenplays.

He went to a bookstore, bought a highly-recommended screenwriting guide, and turned to page one: "The Godfather may be the finest screenplay ever written and this book is based on its techniques and theory..."

H

 

[trysail]

I'm reading an H.L.Mencken biography, and I believe he did exactly the same thing with several of the authors Sexton cites.

Mencken, of course, was a literary critic of the first order. You are correct; his A Book Of Prefaces (1917) is a series of three lengthy essays on Conrad, Dreiser, and Huneker concluding with a fourth essay, "Puritanism as a Literary Force."

I'm curious. Which Mencken biography are you reading? Terry Teachout? Marion Elizabeth Rodgers? William Manchester? Carl Bode? William Nolte? Vince Fitzpatrick?

I have to admit that I'm partial to the 1950 Manchester biography (Disturber Of The Peace) for largely sentimental reasons. Notwithstanding its shortcomings (which are undeniable because of Manchester's youth, inexperience, and his lack of access to subsequently available sources), I like the admiration and affection that Manchester had for his subject. That fondness carried over into Manchester's prose; his obvious attempt at mimicking Mencken's prose is both a little humorous and heartwarming, while providing a yardstick for the inimitability of Mencken's style. You probably know that, upon his discharge from service with the Marines in the Pacific Theater of WWII, Manchester made a beeline for Baltimore with the specific purpose of securing Mencken as a literary mentor.

 

[Chantilyvamp]

James, out of the books you do have which one is your favorite?

I'm subscribing to you thread for future reference when I get home from the states. I'll look at everyones stuff when I get back

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

HANDPRINTS

Thanks. I have that one already. Everyone should have it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

TRYSAIL

I'm reading the TEACHOUT biography, but I have all of them except Manchester's. I have most of Mencken's books and books about Mencken.

Mencken, of course, was influenced by Mark Twain. Many newspaper writers were. I collect old newspaper articles, and Twain's influence is so obvious. One or two of the copy-cats were better than the master. And Twain was influenced by William Tappan Thompson and Augustus B. Longstreet.

Florence King reminds me of Mencken. Oddly enough, Manchester doesnt....though I like Manchester a lot.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

CHANTILYVAMP

WRITING FOR STORY by Jon Franklin is probably the book I wouldnt part with. He won 2 Pulitzer Prizes. One of the stories is about brain surgery, and the other is a mini-biography of a black man. Both stories are sublime reading.

But Franklin won his Pulitzers, got a gig as a professor, and has done nuthin much in almost 30 years. WRITING FOR STORY is an excellent how-to-write manual.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't go much for books that tell you to write like the book's author writes, but here's one that helps you write how you write better and is in an easy-to-index format:

Theodore M. Bernstein, The Careful Writer: A Modern Guide to English Usage.

And for nonfiction: William Zinsser, On Writing Well.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

SR71PLT

Thanks. I have it. Good book (Zinsser). I'll check out the other one.

I look for hints and tricks that each writer has. I did the same when I was a sheet metal apprentice 40 years ago. Everyone has some special something that isnt in the books.

 

[sr71plt]

Some more that are useful for writer's bookshelf:

Lawrence Block, Writing the Novel from Plot to Print

Orson Scott Card, Characters & Viewpoints

Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down to the Bones

Handbook for Short Story Writing (published by Writer's Digest, with a preface by Joyce Carol Oates)

Anne Lamont, Bird by Bird

Betsy Lerner, The Forest for the Trees

Sol Stein, How to Grow a Novel

Sol Stein, Stein on Writing

 

[adetaildiva]

for what it's worth

First time AH visitor here. I've got it on good authority that y'all are a friendly bunch. So here goes .......

I'm not an author, nor do I play one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. BUT, I'd like to recommend Passionate Ink by Angela Knight. It may be helpful for those writing erotica/romance.

(She's one of my favs & I wanted to give her a plug. So sue me. )

 

[oggbashan]

Ancient but still good

I re-read Quiller-Couch "On the Art of Writing" and Sir Ernest Gowers "Complete Plain Words".

Og

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

???????????????

Isnt Goldbergs book kinda little? Like 3" by 4"?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Thanks, I made note of the books I dont have.