|
Some
Books on Writing
Recommended
by Chuck Hauser
Two classic, must-have books for a writer's library:
1. "The Elements of Style," Strunk
and White, publisher Allyn & Bacon. Latest paperback version
is marked 4th edition (year 2000), and is available in all the
big book stores at $7.95.
2. "On Writing Well," William
Zinsser, Harper & Rowe. The 25th Anniversary Edition
in paperback is $11.20. A wonderful guidebook for writing all
types of non-fiction.
Two books that I especially favor:
1. "The New Journalism," a
non-fiction anthology of great magazine pieces, edited and with
a bang-up introduction by Tom Wolfe, who tells all about where
the new-journalism approach to non-fiction writing originated
and what it means, publisher Harper & Rowe. Unfortunately,
OUT OF PRINT. If anyone spots a copy in a second-hang
shop, grab it fast. If you don't want it, I'll buy it from you;
my copy is about worn out.
2. "Write to Learn," Donald Murray, Holt
Rinehart Winston. Superb book on the writing process.
But this was written as a textbook, which means it's expensive.
Another one to look for in second-hand stores.
Recommended by Anna
Louise Reynolds
O'Connor,
Flannery. Mastery and Manners. This selection of
occasional pieces provides a journey inside the mind of one of
our greatest writers. Included are essays on regional writing,
the nature and aims of
fiction, teaching literature, and the writer and
religion.
Brande,
Dorothea. Becoming a Writer. A classic work, first
published in 1934, on writing and the creative process, teaches
about how to
be a writer, to see, to
call forth the inner writer, to employ both the fertile
unconscious and the critical mind, and how to separate them from
one another.
Newlove,
Donald. Invented Dialogue. Painted Paragraphs. First Paragraphs.
These three fascinating books provide
selections of inspired dialogue, descriptions, and openings
culled from great literature, with helpful analysis and critique
for readers and writers.
LeGuin,
Ursula. Steering the Craft: Excercises and Discussions on
Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew.
An exhilarating workout for writers of narrative fiction or
nonfiction.
Lukeman,
Noah. The First Five Pages. A
Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile.
Literary agent Lukernan reveals that to avoid rejection your
Manuscript must prove its outstanding worth in the first five
pages. Excercises to improve technique are offered.
"Intelligent and enter- taining instruction...it should be
read by all novice writers--and by those
whose books are already published but who intend to
write more." --Richard Marek, Editorial Director of Kirkus
Reviews and former book publisher.
Goldberg,
Natalie. Writing Down the Bones. The secret of creativity
is to subtract rules for writing, not add them, Goldberg shows
us.
It's a process of "uneducation" rather than
education. The book affirms that writing is hard work, a tricky
balance of concentration, done "not by blocking out the
world but by allowing it all to exist."
Lamott,
Anne. Bird by Bird. Some
Instructions on Writing and Life. Hilarious, kind, and
prodding advice on writing, including the necessity of Writing
that 'shitty first draft."
Kaplan,
David Michael. Revision. A
Cretive Approach to Writing and Rewriting Fiction.
Invaluable step-by-step advice on how to approach revision as a creative re-seeing, a holistic
re-shaping, an open-minded re- imagining to discover what your
story is about and how best to tell it. Kaplan uses his own
(excellent) published stories, along with their drafts, to show
us how.
|
