I’m really tired, and don’t have a whole lot of motivation to do anything today, but I don’t want to break the chain of daily posts that I started over a month ago, so here’s some writing advice I gave on my Tumblr earlier today:
Do you have any recommendations for books on how to be a better writer and/or how to go about getting published? Or any advice in either. Thanks you’re the best!
Before you get into books, read and listen to Ira Glass talk about The Taste Gap. You’ll come back to this many times over the next few months and probably years.
Books:
- Stephen King’s ON WRITING is incredibly valuable, and each time I read it, I learn something new because I’ve grown as a writer, and unlocked new perception abilities.
- Save the Cat, by Blake Snyder, is very good, too. I don’t agree with all of it, and its primary focus is on screenwriting, but the fundamentals of pacing and working from a logline and basic story type are really useful.
- The Anatomy of Story, by John Truby, is also very insightful and helpful. I love that it uses movies you’ve already seen and know to help explain the mechanics behind building them, so you can use the same mechanics in your original work.
As far as getting published goes, don’t worry about that until you feel confident and mature as a writer. Put your effort and XP into developing your voice, your discipline and commitment to doing the work, and rewriting the first draft. Once you’ve gotten all of that into your build, you can go ahead and start looking for publishing.
I hope this helps get you started. If there was one thing that I could make you listen to and internalize, though, just one single thing that you would be compelled to do, it is this: Write every day, and keep it simple.
I say to keep it simple because we all have this tendency to complicate things, in an effort to show everyone how clever we are. There’s certainly a place for that, but when we’re learning and developing, it’s going to be complicated enough on its own. Think of it like learning to play guitar: get your scales and basic chords down before you decide to tackle Metallica’s One or Stairway to Heaven.
Blake Shelton wrote Save the Cat? 🙂
Thanks for the input Wil, perhaps this will help me man up and try NaNoWriMo this year!
I have to agree re: On Writing. Outstanding book, one I’ve found very useful over the years, and one I’ve just passed along to someone who’s trying to up their writing game.
Unless your James Hetfield, then you can rock the shit out of that writing!
Thank you, Wil! This is just what I needed today. Just this week, my family and I all came up with our goals for 2017 and my goal was to finish writing my book by the end of the year. I have never written a book (except for geeky technical manuals) or even a short story really. But I am a good storyteller and have just returned from a 7-month adventure around the world with my husband and teenage sons. I created a blog for family and friends that ended up with over 3000 visitors and I have had a lot of encouragement to turn those stories from our adventure into a memoir of sorts. With little idea where to start, my first step is reading all kinds of books on writing!
Shelton can sing and write books? Amazing! How dare Blake Snyder take credit for that book!
I am so embarrassed.
It was my best laugh of the day if that helps at all 🙂
Telling lies for fun and profit by Lawrence Block was a good book on the nuts and bolts of writing for a living. I don’t really like Block’s writing, which is straight-up ‘airport-paperback-crime-noir’ but the guy was prolific as all h* and the book is an unvarnished look at his writing process; how he consistently generates content in volume. His method of getting started is dated – pre-internet anthology mags like the ones we all grew up reading – but his ideas of the nuts and bolts of writing as an understandable and reliable process that you can crank, is enlightening. The guy never produced anything to rival ‘The Brothers K’, but he put out a lot of airport novels whose plots tied together, whose characters were as good or better than any of the hyper-prolific writers (Koontz / Baldacci / Child / Cussler…) had defensible story arcs and satisfying – often surprising endings & etc. He could have titled it: “How to manufacture a highly marketable stream of fiction-writing-product of a consistent quality on a tight schedule.” I guess I shouldn’t say I don’t like his writing – but rather – I can’t read a few of them in a row without getting the feeling that they’re a lot like playing “Time Stories”… because you can see the elements clicking into place a little too readily when you’re too mindful of his modular and somewhat consistent narrative structure. Or he could have called it: “How to develop a creative process and work ethic that will allow you to make a living writing fiction.”
I have a looooong master list of books on writing from which I try to choose each year, so thank you for some new ones to add to the TBR list. Just started THE SECRETS OF STORY this year by Matt Bird, and so far, so good.
I agree, those are three great books and I enjoyed each one. I would recommend “Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular” by Rust Hill. It’s an older book, and that should be kept in mind, but it’s very good too.
“On Writing” is among my favorites. Especially as an audible book. I take heart listening to Mr. King talk about his struggles.
Just as a side note, when I was putting some finishing touches on a recent story game we published, I put in a Stand By Me (pie eating contest) and Shawshank Redemption reference. Plus the ultimate puzzle in the game is Wheaton’s Law.
Our nod to great storytellers. 🙂
I found where I sent you the quote from Ira Glass on the taste gap, almost 6 years ago. You declared it was “glorious” and would save it for future reference. Indeed.
I like your link to the audio, which is way better than just having the thing that he said. Ira’s good at that speaking thing. 👍🏻😀
Thanks, Wil! I’m going to take these recommendations to heart. I knew about King’s book (what writer-to-be hasn’t?) but the others are unfamilar. I have recently decided I needed to wake up some dormant writing muscles that have been neglected for about the last 20 years, since I discovered Usenet and the Internet and expended all my writing energy in talking to other people on forums and social media. I even woke up my LiveJournal just before Christmas to use as a sketch pad for rough drafts and and word sketches. One thing I’m learning is that I have a long way to go, but I have always taken to heart one thing I read from an ON WRITING excerpt I read years and years ago: King (I think it was, it’s been so long I could have the source wrong) said that one thing that really annoys him is when someone comes up to him and says “I always wanted to be a writer, I’ll have to try it some time”, to which he replies “Gee, I always wanted to be a neurosurgeon, I’ll have to try it sometime.” Either you’re a writer or you’re not, he continued. It’s a matter of whether you actually write. I have always been a writer, and until I hit my 30s, I wrote a lot of what I called “little fictions”. Some were shared, others not so much. Even though I let other distractions call a halt to the writing, I’m no less a writer. I’m just not very good at it right now, especially for being out of practice.
Thanks for sharing!
My recommendation when asked is usually Dorothea Brande’s 1934 tome, Becoming a Writer, which is less about the mechanics of storytelling and more about the internal processes of writing. One of the exercises she recommends is writing at “random” times: setting an alarm clock for the middle of the night; first thing in the morning; at lunch; after supper; and so on. I also love her recommendation to build an article or story in your head, then take a quick nap before writing to allow your subconscious to work on it. As a newspaper editor, I found that invaluable. Most of my best editorials were written either very early in the morning after an all-nighter or right after an afternoon nap.
thank you for that suggestion. I’m looking forward to reading it. Looking fascinating already.
You may find Christopher Vogler’s “The Writer’s Journey” and Robert McKee’s “Story” interesting 🙂
Talking about “Save the Cat”: what did you think about Snyder’s re-thinking of genres ?
I’ve been working on the 4th draft of my novel and ashamed at how rough it still is… “The taste gap” was great advice for me today. Gotta keep writing. Thank you!
As far as publishing goes, nowadays self-publishing is a legitimate option with its own benefits and challenges. I have a friend who recently self-published his 7th book through Amazon and B&N, to moderate success.
On the one hand, without the resources of a publishing company, he has to do a lot more self-promotion, and has to take a lot more personal responsibility for proofing and editing. Luckily, he has a few friends dedicated enough to be “beta readers” and help polish his work. That’s made a difference, as one of the common comments I see in his reviews is that is work is much more polished and error-free than most self-published books. Faint praise, I suppose, but readers notice that sort of thing.
On the other hand, his work is out there and people are reading it. And the feedback he’s gotten from readers through his blog and Amazon review comments have helped him to hone his craft and improve.
I’ve read the first two, but the third is new to me! Save the Cat is great, as is On Writing. Can’t wait to check out the rest! Peace to you!
I also liked On Writing. Two other ones I really like are On Writing Well by William Zinsser and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
I also liked Saved the Cat and On Writing. I’ve recently discovered STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron and it has been an incredible resource. It offers an alternative to the Pantser and Plotter methods. It also helps writers create character backstory to help devise a compelling plot. I highly recommend it.