Books, Books, Books

>I'm not a published writer but the best book I've read so far is "The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers" by Betsy Lerner. It's a true inspiration that invites writers into the editor's mind and also lifts the curtain on the publishing industry in general.

>You'll list many excellent books on craft. Two books on editing that are actually beneficial before you write are The First Five Pages (Lukeman) and Self-Editing For Fiction Writers (Browne & King).

You have Maass, Swain, Stein, Bell, Gardner (John or Rachelle, take your pick) King, Lamott…all belong on the list. So I'll toss in a couple to add: Jeff Gerke [www.marcherlordpress.com/Store] has an ebook called "How To Find Your Story" for character first writers who struggle with an eye-popping good plot. The plot-first types who find their characters too shallow can get "Character Creation for the Plot-First Novelist." His newest book, "The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction," is out now but I have not read it yet.

And just so I can say I called it first, Randy Ingermanson is co-writing the book "Writing Fiction For Dummies" which should make all our lives complete. Can't say when that one will be released, but it will no doubt belong on the must-have list.

>Favorite book on writing: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I consumed it in a day, and laughed and cried in recognition.

Favorite books on craft: Writing the Breakout Novel workbook and book by Donald Maass, and the James Scott Bell books. There are other wonderful books on craft, but these two authors' advice is most helpful to me.

>I've got three:

1. Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
2. Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress
3. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card

The latter has a little information on getting published in the SF/F world, but otherwise they're all thick with good info on writing well.

>Hmm, I'm glad to hear you say that. It occurred to me a couple months ago that while my current ms is YA fantasy, I don't read a LOT of YA fantasy myself at the moment. Hence, I'm planning to try and read a lot more YA fantasy – I'm ordering books like "A demon's lexicon" and "Silver phoenix" and re-reading my Juliet Marillier books to try and get a feel for how these authors write the genre.

So thanks for confirming my thoughts!

I look forward to see what other people list as their favourite books on writing – I haven't found any great ones myself (the most useful to date being Eats, Shoots and Leaves – not particularly related to creative writing).

>Favorite book on getting published:

Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams by Terry Whalin

Favorite book on writing craft:

Just Write! by Susan Titus Osborne

Both are reviewed on my book review blog for Christian writers: http://www.tnchristianreader.wordpress.com.

>I can’t decide. So, as I think any of these would be helpful, I’m listing them all.

I found "How to Grow a Novel" and "Stein on Writing" by Sol Stein motivating. They helped define my strengths (the things I was naturally doing as a writer) and my weaknesses (because I’m human-lol!) and gave me my first glimpse into the publishing world.

When I completed my manuscript, I read Steven King’s "On Writing". Not a bad read. It was my first King book. I found it direct, relevant, and helped to humanizes King in my mind.(Concerning 'world-view' and writing content~think Nathaniel Hawthorne of modern times.)

Now, I’m reading Noah Lukeman's "First Five Pages". For those of you who’ve read it…I had four question marks in my first 5 pages! OMW (I just have to shake my head, read a bit of "Rants & Ramblings" for encouragement and…get back to editing.)

>Dean Koontz's How to Write Bestselling Fiction.

David Morrell's The Successful Novelist.

Elizabeth Lyon's The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit.

Jerry Jenkin's Writing for the Soul.

>Thinking like your Editor: How to write serious nonfiction–and get it published; by S. Rabiner/A. Fortunato seems to be an excellentbook to me. writer jim

>Sel-Editing for Fiction Writers.
Loving it!! I also love Jodi Pecoult books, Nicholas Sparks and new authors!

>I like From the Inside Out – discover, create, and publish the novel in you by Susan Warren and Rachel Hauck. I also regularly reread Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King.

>CRAFT/WRITING:
Stephen King's On Writing
Chris Baty's No Plot? No Problem! (especially for NaNoWriMo participants)

CRAFT, PUBLICATION, SELF-MARKETING:
Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life
Mur Lafferty's podcast I Should Be Writing

PUBLICATION:
Agent blogs
Cathy Yardley's Will Write For Shoes: How to Write a Chick Lit Novel (specifically, this helped me write my synopsis)
Blythe Camenson's Your Novel Proposal: From Creation to Contract : The Complete Guide to Writing Query Letters, Synopses and Proposals for Agents and Editors (no longer in print, was recommended by AgentQuery.com)

HAVEN'T FINISHED READING YET, BUT IT SEEMS PROMISING:
Walter Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel

Oh, and I kind of liked Eats, Shoots & Leaves because I'm such a grammar nerd that I find apostrophe humor hilarious, but there's a GRAMMAR ERROR IN THE TITLE!!! What the heck were they thinking?!?

It should be "The Zero-Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" and that critical hyphen is MISSING in the book. Unbelieveable, given the nature of the book.

>I've got a lot of favorites that I go back to over and over again. By the way, as a former librarian, I encourage you to take advantage of interlibrary loan!

Essential (read these two before you send out your ms)
THE FIRST FIVE PAGES Hoah Lukeman

SELF-EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS by Renni Brown and Dave King

When you're feeling down about writing:
THE COURAGE TO WRITE: HOW WRITERS TRANSCEND FEAR by Ralph Keyes

THE RIGHT TO WRITE by Julia Cameron

BIRD BY BIRD by Ann Lamott

ON WRITING by Steven King

Other good books:
YOUR FIRST NOVEL by Laura Whitcomb

NOVEL SHORTCUTS: TEN TECHNIQUES THAT ENSURE A GREAT FIRST DRAFT by Laura Whitcomb

IT'S A BUNNY EAT BUNNY WORLD by Olga Litowinsky (children's books)

COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO PUBLISHING CHILDREN'S BOOKS by Harold Underdown

A NOVEL IN A YEAR: FROM FIRST PAGES TO LAST IN 52 WEEKS by Louise Doughty

HOOKED: WRITE FICTION THAT GRABS READERS FROM PAGE ONE AND NEVER LETS THEM GO by Les Edgerton

BETWEEN THE LINES: MASTER THE SUBTLE ELEMENTS OF FICTION WRITING BY Jessica Morrell

MANUSCRIPT MAKEOVER by Elizabeth Lyon

Happy reading (and writing)!

>My craft books are treasures. But I'm inspired most by these gems:
The One-Year Bible
At His Feet One-Year Devotional
Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and Creativity by Michael Card
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Making a Good Writer Great by Linda Seger
Writing for the Soul by Jerry B. Jenkins
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogel
Stealing Fire from the Gods by James Bonnet
Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle
Wallace Stegner's classic, Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Springs: Living and Writing in the West

Wow, I thank God for such empowering, equipping resources!

>Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott. It's hilarious and endearing, and she offers some of the best advice I've seen anywhere.

>To me the best books on writing are the books I most enjoy reading. A good book is a master class unto itself.

As for texts about writing, I'm a fan of Michael Seidman's two books: Fiction: The Art and Craft of Writing and Getting Published and The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction. Syd Field's classic Screenplay is also essential to writers in any medium. Aristotle's "Poetics" (part of Writing 101) is good. And someone mentioned Steve Martin's Pure Drivel. That is a brilliant work. I can't believe I got it for a buck as a remainder at a dollar store. (What does that say about this business?)

There are many more to add, but one I haven't seen is Writer's Digest's collection entitled Legends of Literature. As they used to say in the westerns: there's gold in them thar hills.

>Stephen King's On Writing is still my favorite, but Robert McKee's Story (technical) and Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird (writing life) are good too. I reviewed the DVD of Anne Lamott on my blog, and it's a great companion to her book.

>Stephen King's On Writing – Pow!
William Zinsser On Writing Well

>Stephen King's 'On Writing" is the best one I've found so far. Of course, I've read just about everything he's written.

>Someone-don't ask; I don't remember-recommended THE ART AND CRAFT OF STORYTELLING by Nancy Lamb. I just started it, and I'd recommend it.

My fav about getting published? BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott, which is also one of my favs on writing. Also reading REVISION & SELF-EDITING by James Scott Bell. A must-buy.

>All of my favorite books on writing have already been mentioned, but my favorite about getting published is:

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published, 14 Reasons Why It Just Might (Pat Walsh)

>I don't have a favorite book about getting published, but my favorite book on writing is "Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors" by Brandilyn Collins. It's an amazing book about creating believable characters!

>Definitely "The First 5 Pages" by Noah Lukeman; a close second was Ron Carlson's "Ron Carlson Writes a Story". And maybe a third "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers"… Okay, it's too hard to choose!

>Right now it's Donald Maass' THE FIRE IN FICTION. I'll give that title as answer to both questions.

>I have read and enjoyed many, if not most, of the books recommended here, but I'm surprised my only cannot-live-without choice hasn't been mentioned:

STORY, by Robert McKee

It's geared toward screenwriters, but it's about STORY. I've read it over and over and over, and every single time I learn so much I feel like I'm reading it for the first time.

If I could have just one book on writing, STORY would be it. With no regrets.

>On writing, I will also say that I love Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, simply because it beats down my problem: motivation!

Eats, Shoots, & Leaves is also a lot of fun for a grammar book.

And as far as publishing goes, I really enjoyed Travel Writing by L. Peat O'Neil (if you're doing travel writing!). And other than that, I read a whole lot of agent/industry blogs!

>The Modern Library Writer's Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction, by Stephen Koch, is one of the best ones I've read lately.

>I like several of the books already mentioned, but there's one book I keep going back to. It's The Writer's Book of Wisdom, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry. He makes every word count.

Maybe I like it because I write non-fiction and that's my writing style, too.

>I really enjoy Write His Answer by Marlene Bagnull. It is a devotional book for Christian writers, and the only one of its kind that I know of.

>I'm joining the conversation a bit late, but I wanted to add an excellent resource that hasn't been mentioned so far.

Rachelle talks a lot about platform, and "Get Known Before the Book Deal" by Christina Katz is the best I've seen on the subject.

Through utterly practical exercises, she helps you discover who your audience is, and what it is you want to write. She leads you through all the ways you can become known for your developing platform as you keep working on it.

Make sure you purchase your copy, as you'll want to scribble in it and plaster it with sticky notes.

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