Any Exceptional Books About Writing?

I have a book that I love, but I'm too lazy to go find it and tell you about it. Maybe later?

But I love podcasts. Go on iTunes, and type in 'Writing Excuses.' Listen to them, and then you can even check out the suggestions they have. (You know, the whole 'subscribers also liked...' thing.)

They're really amazing. I just downloaded 50 to my iPod, and I plan on listening to them all. Finally, something productive to do on the bus!

And a bonus: they're free!

~JFW1415

Edit: I just listened to several podcasts, and I would say that is 'TheWritingCast' my all time favorite (so far.) I love it, and they're pretty short. (Around 10 minutes.) They're really helpful.

Also, the book I was talking about is called: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel by Tom Monteleone. It is wonderful, and completely reader-friendly.

Defintitely Seize the Story by Victoria Hanley.

It goes through different tips about writing plus has interviews from author's and they give advice to writers.

JFW1415 wrote:But I love podcasts. Go on iTunes, and type in 'Writing Excuses.' Listen to them, and then you can even check out the suggestions they have. (You know, the whole 'subscribers also liked...' thing.)

They are fabulous. I also recommend Mur Lafferty's I Should Be Writing ISBW. Free, over 200 episodes, interviews with famous sci-fi, and fantasy authors, and she goes over everything from cons to shyness to the muse to getting an agent... cannot rave enough
This podcast inspired me to write. Check it out on itunes.

I love 'Writing Magic' by Gail Carson Levine, it was the first book I ever read about writing and I still use a lot of things I read in that now.

And 'Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life' by Anne Lamott is a good book.

Gotham Writer's Workshop: Writing Fiction

Very excellent book. I've also tried Writing Magic but it is definitely geared towards younger, more mainstream writers.

Everyday Creative Writing: Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink by Michael C. Smith is pretty awesome. It has a ton of writing exercises, and I've gotten inspiration for all sorts of short stories from these exercises. Plus it makes the ordinary so much more exciting. Mundane tasks have become adventures for me, and I look for a story in almost everything I do.

I enjoy "Writing Magic" By Gail Carson Lavine, and "Writing for Dummies".

There are a lot of "Dummies" books that I'm told are rather good. I'm getting one for Christmas

And there's an e-zine by Randy Ingermanson which I get, it's really very good.

Hope it helps
~Grin

Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is good. And I get Randy Ingermanson's e-zine as well. It's good and its free, so there's nothing to lose.

I think I read a feeeeew too many writing books:

Dynamic characters by Nancy Kress. One of the most complete character-building books I have read. Goes how manerisms build a character, and how to, in general, show character traits rather than tell them.

45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. A very good book to "click" characters into place. It provides motivations, fears, opinions and ways to grow various character moulds. Especially good if your characters are suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. I found this book helped me get them into place.

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Kress again. Her character segment isn't as complete as her other book, but the advice on emotion and viewpoint is very nice. I still refer to some of her emotion advice every now and again.

The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. This book basically explains the three-act structure and how each character is supposed to grow during each segment of the story. It can look like a plot book from one angle, and a character book from the other.

Beginnings, Middles & Endings a third book by Kress. This explains more about pacing, and takes a different (and less rigid) view on three-act structure. It also had me laughing!

The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference (no author). A ton of info on myth, as well as historical information. Useful for anybody writing in the Meadeval era.

The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Volume I Info on world creation, plot construction, race construction, fighting, food, religion, dress, and a host of other stuff. Haven't read this book cover to cover but I keep going back to it for minor details that are so hard to find elsewhere.

And I have to throw in a book that's not about writing, but I consider a must-have:

100,000+ Baby Names by Bruce Lansky. Vital if you want to reach past normal names.

Grammar for Dummies!

I know the Dummies books have already been mentioned, but this was/is a huge help to me. It taught me all the basics of how words slot together, so that I could spend 90% of my effort working on the ideas in my head, rather than 90% working out how to put them onto a page.

I've just finished reading Gotham Writers' Workshop; although I have to admit I've left out the chapter on revision. I will read that whenever it has become necessary.

I've looked into Sol Stein's Stein on Writing quite a few times now, and I have to say I really like it. It's less practical (e.g. there are no writing prompts or exercises) but it's definitely a good read. Stein shares some really interesting tips.

I have Dibell's Plot lying around somewhere, I will probably get to that during my holiday in August!

I have just ordered James V. Smith's Writer's Little Helper. I saw an extract from it somewhere (that nifty graph that you can use to outline your plot) and apparently it's very visual. Since I like to plan everything I do carefully using graphs, maps, tables etc I believe this book could be helpful to me.

I was looking for a cheap copy of Monica Wood's Description, but I couldn't find one. I'll probably order one whenever I have the money, though!

If You Want To Write by Brenda Ueland is my writing bible, so to speak. It might be a bit hippie-dippie for some people, but I found it incredibly inspiring. Most importantly, perhaps, my writing improved halfway through it.

Others have mentioned On Writing by Stephen King. I second or third or fourth that motion.

And this might not be the place, but I have to caution against Bird by Bird by Annie Lammott. A lot of published writers seem to trumpet it, but I don't think it's for our generation. Same stuff you probably already know--make your characters believable, plot sucks, dialogue should be realistic but not too realistic, blah.

RachaelElg wrote:
And this might not be the place, but I have to caution against Bird by Bird by Annie Lammott. A lot of published writers seem to trumpet it, but I don't think it's for our generation. Same stuff you probably already know--make your characters believable, plot sucks, dialogue should be realistic but not too realistic, blah.

Ugh, seconded. Can't stand Bird by Bird. It's exactly what you said-- she just spews the obvious. Worse than that, it borders on obsolete. I just couldn't get behind her.

And to that end, I second (third, fourth, fifth) On Writing. I totally worshipped that book for some time.