List of books

The following is a list of books I've looked at over the years and have read all or part of. They've helped my writing (and critiquing) one way or another, so I thought I'd post them for all to enjoy. ^_^

These are alphebetized by first word.

45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. It gives you a better grasp on what a realistic character is.

Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress. Helps you to see how beginnings tie into the rest of the story. Mostly if you’re following a long work.

Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint by Nancy Kress.

Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card.

Conflict, Action & Suspense by William Nobel.

Description by Monica Wood.

Description & Setting by Ron Rozelle.

Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress.

Hooked by Les Edgerton. It’s a whole book dedicated on how to write a good beginning. With the amount of beginnings posted on YWS, what more do you need?

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. This isn’t just for fantasy writers. There are some really good tips for general writing at the beginning of the book.

How to Write & Sell your First Novel by Oscar Collier. Some things for coherency and writing in here. A good starter book.

Police Procedure & Investigation by Lee Lofland. Even though this doesn’t have any writing tips, per say, how many of us haven’t written a story without some form of murder, police work or weapons (like guns). This is part of the Howdunit series by Writer’s Digest. A gory read from the examples, but worth it if you want to know how crime works.

Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. This book not only covers what the title says, but also covers the basics of characters, plot, PoV, scenes, dialogue and just about everything you need to take into consideration when writing.

Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham. How to write individual scenes effectively.

The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy, Volume I edited by Darin Park & Tom Dullemond. This book contains fight techniques, a lot on the Medieval time period (including food, religion, weapons, magic and medicine). Along with characterization techniques and plot formats. A very good all-around book. (There are two other volumes to this set, but volume I is the most general)

The Writer’s Complete Fantasy Reference by the editors at Writer’s Digest books. This one is, again, not just for Fantasy writers. There are several easy-to-understand sections of castle life, weapons, jobs, punishments, and other things that help any fantasy or historical writer.

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. This book has the Hero’s Journey in easier to understand language then Joseph Campbell’s Hero With a Thousand Faces (which the Writer’s Journey is based on), and gives insights into pacing a story.

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy by Crawford Kilian. Part two in this book shows plot, tone, symbols, characterization and a lot of other things that all writers need to know. The only difference is it uses sci-fi and fantasy examples.

I hope these books will help you just as much as they’ve helped me. Yes, some of the advice in these books I have overlooked, but that’s not a common occurence.

Also, feel free to add onto this list! I know I haven’t read every writing book in the universe. I have several unread writing books waiting on my shelf (which, if they end up being good, I’ll add in) If you want to post a book that’s helped you write or critique, go ahead.

I don't own too many books about writing, and just returned a lot to the library, so I can't remember authors or publishers. However, some topics I have found useful to read about in terms of publishing* are:

Books about formatting manuscripts. Get an up-to-date one; it's easier than searching the whole Internet for a lot of conflicting advice (although on major points I'd cross-reference multiple sources).

Books that list agents. I don't discount agencies I've found out about on the Internet, though. Books can also be useful to familiarise yourself with agent organisations, then you can find their website for up-to-date lists of legitimate members.

*Because I'm at the querying stage, I'm reading a lot about publishing. For some reason, I tend to get writing advice off the Internet.

I own two writing books, Hooked and Self Editing for Fiction Writers.

I just ordered about six more, and have around twenty on my wish list. The two I've read are great, and the six I'm about to get have good reviews. So which are those six?

--The Writers Journey by Chris Vogler.
--The Art And Craft Of Storytelling: A Comprehensive Guide To Classic Writing Techniques by Nancy Lamb.
--Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass.
--Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain.
--Stein on Writing bu Sol Stein.
--Getting into Character.

And I own Fiction 101, a lecture by Randy Ingermanson.

Then I have *counts with fingers* twenty two on my wish list.
The "Write Great Fiction" series, some of the "Elements of Fiction" series. Elements of Style, Grammatically Correct, two vocabulary books, the writing a "Damn Good Novel" pair, want to preorder Writing Fiction for Dummies, On Writing, Dynamic Characters, How to Grow a Novel and the First Five Pages. Whew! That was a long sentence. This summer I am working to earn enough money to buy them all. I haven't read any of them, but the reviews are certainly recommending.