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Writers' Guide Books

Started by widsith , author of WIDSITH 7/29/2010 2:18:15 PM

Has anyone read any guide books about writing? Is there one you highly recommend?

I've only started learning how to write, and one of my first textbooks was, "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. The prof of my writing class recommended it, and I enjoyed it a lot.

It's fun to read and showed me how my automatic writing ticks and habits affect the readability of my work. For example, I learned how my speech patterns and way of thinking influence (read: clutter) my writing, and how that ultimately translates into a bored reader.

It also taught me how to handle cliches, slang and over-used phrases (i.e. when to use and when to avoid), how to learn the precise meaning of words, to appreciate the subtle differences between synonyms so that my writing becomes intentional and succinct, and lots more.

What writing books do you recommend? :)

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Reply by Guinevere

author of This Is Not My Day Job 7/31/2010 2:38:38 PM

That's a great question! I'm a writing book addict myself, and I'll have to check out Zissner's. There are a few books I've read and loved, depending on what you're looking for...

Ann Lamont's BIRD BY BIRD is a very motivating (and funny) book about writing. Stephen King's ON WRITING is a classic tome written by a successful author as well.

To identify potential issues in your writing, I like SORRY, BUT THIS ISN'T FOR US by Jessica Page Morrell. She's an editor by trade, so if you can't send your book out to be edited (which is not something I'm ready to spring for!) she can be very helpful in identifying the weaknesses in your writing and improving them.

And I really like the Writer's Digest Write Great Fiction series - if there's an area that you want to focus on, they have a book specifically on plot, characters, dialogue, setting, etc.  I l struggle with plotting, so I read PLOT & STRUCTURE and found that very helpful.

Those are a few books on my shelf, although I'm contantly looking to learn new things to help myself grow as a writer.


Reply by Sandie lee

author of TattleTott Productions 1/2/2011 2:46:38 PM

The books put out by the ICL (Institute of Children's Literature) are good, even if your genre isn't kid-related.

You can find them on the net =)

Sandie lee


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