Your Recommendations

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I own about every how-to-write book there is. It's been my experience that 99% of them offer little that's useful to the larval writer. But there are books that model how to write, and they provide excellent lessons for the craft.

Ayn Rand recommended HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. I read it many years ago, and read it again this week. Published about 1830, it is blemished from a style common to the early Romantics, but not as overwhelming as Tolstoy's WAR & PEACE. Both books include an excessive amount of narrative. But if you ignore the excess, the writing is an excellent example of how to weave characters and their conflicts together, and stage the whole resolution/climax in one scene.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I AM LEGEND by Richard Matheson is another excellent book for learning the writing craft. I came across it today, and couldnt put it down till it was done. Also, nothing scares me and this one made me nervous.

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

Hemingway's A Moveable Feast

Flaubert's Sentimental Education

James' Portrait of a Lady

 

[JackLuis]

Nonfiction- "The Arrogance of Power" J. WIlliam Fullbright.

 

[AchtungNight]

Anything by the following writers:

- Stephen King.
- Robert B. Parker.
- Arthur Conan Doyle.
- Robert Heinlein.
- Laura Joh Rowland.
- Douglas Adams.
- Tom Clancy.
- George Lucas.
- L Ron Hubbard.
- Whoever wrote the Bible and the Koran.
- Clive Cussler.
- Roald Dahl.
- Charles Dickens.
- Jane Austen.
- William Shakespeare.
- Michael Crichton.
- Jim Butcher.
- Simon Green.
- Thomas Jefferson.
- Malcolm X.
- Neil Gaiman.
- Alan Moore.
- Garth Ennis.
- Kevin Smith.
- Rich Burlew.
- Jolly Blackburn.
- Mark Twain.
- Dr. Seuss.
- Bill Watterson.
- Jim Davis.
- Douglas Preston.
- Lincoln Child.
- Larry Niven.
- Carrie Vaughn.
- Christine Morgan.
- RA Salvatore.
- Eric Lustbader.
- MistressLynn.
- Recidiva.
- SlycWille.
- Nick Scipio.
- Matt Groening.
- Anne Rice.
- Seth McFarlane.
- Joss Whedon.
- Paul Haggis.
- Dan Millman.
- Mike Judge.
- Victor Gischler.
- Ken Follet.
- John Grisham.
- Stephen Coonts.
- Carnage Jackson.
- KMB.
- JRR Tolkien.
- Victor Frankl.
- Harlen Coben.
- Robert Tannenbaum.
- Richard Bach.

These writers have all pushed me through the entire range of human emotion, from the depths of sadness to the heights of joy. At times, their writing has disgusted me. At other times I have felt rapture as I experienced the emotion they put across to me in words.

I am richer for having read these writers, every one of them. Or watched their movies and TV shows, as the case may be for some. There are many more names I could add to the list, but it's long enough as is. You can add your own names if you like. If any Litizens see their names there, well, I hope you won't begrudge me the honor I am doing you. I thank you all greatly for enriching my life.

 

[_Lynn_]

Anything by the following writers:

- Stephen King.
- Robert B. Parker.
- Arthur Conan Doyle.
- Robert Heinlein.
- Laura Joh Rowland.
- Douglas Adams.
- Tom Clancy.
- George Lucas.
- L Ron Hubbard.
- Whoever wrote the Bible and the Koran.
- Clive Cussler.
- Roald Dahl.
- Charles Dickens.
- Jane Austen.
- William Shakespeare.
- Michael Crichton.
- Jim Butcher.
- Simon Green.
- Thomas Jefferson.
- Malcolm X.
- Neil Gaiman.
- Alan Moore.
- Garth Ennis.
- Kevin Smith.
- Rich Burlew.
- Jolly Blackburn.
- Mark Twain.
- Dr. Seuss.
- Bill Watterson.
- Jim Davis.
- Douglas Preston.
- Lincoln Child.
- Larry Niven.
- Carrie Vaughn.
- Christine Morgan.
- RA Salvatore.
- Eric Lustbader.
- MistressLynn.
- Recidiva.
- SlycWille.
- Nick Scipio.
- Matt Groening.
- Anne Rice.
- Seth McFarlane.
- Joss Whedon.
- Paul Haggis.
- Dan Millman.
- Mike Judge.
- Victor Gischler.
- Ken Follet.
- John Grisham.
- Stephen Coonts.
- Carnage Jackson.
- KMB.
- JRR Tolkien.
- Victor Frankl.
- Harlen Coben.
- Robert Tannenbaum.
- Richard Bach.

These writers have all pushed me through the entire range of human emotion, from the depths of sadness to the heights of joy. At times, their writing has disgusted me. At other times I have felt rapture as I experienced the emotion they put across to me in words.

I am richer for having read these writers, every one of them. Or watched their movies and TV shows, as the case may be for some. There are many more names I could add to the list, but it's long enough as is. You can add your own names if you like. If any Litizens see their names there, well, I hope you won't begrudge me the honor I am doing you. I thank you all greatly for enriching my life.

I loved to read when I was growing up. My choices were limited though.
Then life got in the way. Now . . . I do little of it anymore, though I know I should.

 

[driphoney]

Ovid's - Metamorphoses, see how many stories you can recognize that started here.

Shakespeare - Hamlet
Mary Shelly - Frankenstein
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
Edgar Allen Poe - The Tell Tale Heart
Stephen Crane - The Red Badge of Courage