For this Friday 4 U, I'm sharing a Writing a Book entry:
Reference books are great for advice and examples and motivation. I am so excited to have my library of writing craft books grow! Now when I have questions, I have more places to turn and learn! Here is what I've got (thanks mostly to contests!):
- HOOKED by Les Edgerton,
- THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE by William Strunk Jr & EB White, and
- THE WRITER'S DIGEST GUIDE TO QUERY LETTERS by Wendy Burt-Thomas
and on my ipad I have picked up a few freebies:
- 70 Solutions to Common Writing Mistakes by Bob Mayer
- Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging by Chitika (30 experts)
- Ghost Writers in the Sky by Roland Yeomans
- Book Marketing Guide by Mark Coker
I need to get the Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.
I also love when I get to sub for an English class. I have to share what I learned this week...Inspirations from a High School Language Arts class:
I also love when I get to sub for an English class. I have to share what I learned this week...Inspirations from a High School Language Arts class:
- THE LIVELY ART OF WRITING by Lucile Vaughn Payne - I found a class set of this awesome book which gives great pointers for writing papers, but also how to grab a reader and make your writing stand out. Here are two of the sections I particularly connected with in my current phase of editing:
- "Picture Frame Paragraphs" - we should visualize how we would paint a scene and describe it with vivid words and details, show not tell (heard that before?) In the first sentence of a paragraph it's okay to tell as long as the rest of the paragraph describes the scene, making the reader feel it and keeping their interest.
- "Making the Subject Perform" - have the subject, whether human or not, do something, make sound or movement into action verbs. action brings the reader a more direct experience.
Always looking for ways to improve my writing. Especially when receiving a rejection or two...
I think exercise helps to deal with the stress of rejection as well. I haven't submitted in a while so no rejections here lately, but I read some IWSG posts of others getting a few. Rejections are like burrs, they prick at first, but then you pick em off, throw em away, and move on!
As for my exercise update this week, I slacked off a little and only exercised a couple of times. But I'm going to go vacuum my basement so I am counting that as a calorie burner!
As for my exercise update this week, I slacked off a little and only exercised a couple of times. But I'm going to go vacuum my basement so I am counting that as a calorie burner!
What craft books do you recommend? And did you get your butt out of the chair to exercise this week?
Whatever you're working on have an inspirational weekend!
19 comments:
I have Roland's book and the Emotional Thesaurus.
My favorite is still Save the Cat.
I love exercise! I workout every morning except Sunday, doing something different each day so I don't bored with it.
I have so many books on writing!! Some of my favorites are "The Art of War for Writers" by James Scott Bell, "The Right to Write" by Julia Cameron, and "The Plot Whisperer Workbook" by Martha Alderson. I have a lot more, though!
One of my faves is Stephen King's On Writing.
But I don't think you can go wrong with "the elements of style"
I love The Emotion Thesaurus. I can't live without it. I have so many favorite craft books. Each has a gem of wisdom in it. But my favorite one on plotting is definitely Save the Cat.
I try to workout almost everyday. Unfortunately it hasn't been possible this week. :(
I second MJ's ON WRITING by Stephen King recommendation! I would also add all of the Donald Maass books - his books on craft really speak to me, which is why I went to one of his conferences. :)
I just finished Brenda Ueland's If You Want To Write and have been singing its praises on my blog. But my very favorite, speak-to-my-writer's-heart book is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
Vacuuming counts. ;)
I love the picture frame idea. Thinking visually is a great way of attempting to show and not tell.
I have to second (third?) On Writing, too. The Writing Block is a book of prompts that I've found fun to use now and then.
Still trying to carve out some exercise time in my day... funny how there always seems to be something more pressing! Like you though, I do try to do housework as fast as possible (to get it over with), so maybe that helps!
Oh I like the picture frame idea! As for exercise, I did a pretty good job this week! I did about an hour of cardio four times this week, so I'm proud :D Also, I didn't even think to look for free craft books for the kindle. Off I go!!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Chores ALWAYS count as calorie burners. Right now I'm reading Wild Ink: A guide to publishing in the YA market. It was library and my husband pointed it out to me so I picked it up. Different from other books I've read for sure :)
I hope vacuuming counts—I've declared it my exercise many times!
Right now I'm reading Julia Cameron's The Right to Write. She has a lot of good tips.
For just every day inspiration, I recommend A Writer's Book of Days for writing prompts, and for craft helps, I like Strunk and White's Elements of Style. I'm going to re-read The Writer's Journey pretty soon . . .so I'll let you know on that one. I can't remember if I liked it before or not.
I like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (by Browne and...um, somebody else. I haven't read it in a while.)I also have Elements of Style. It's always good to learn as much as you can. ;)
And oh, vacuuming totally counts.
I love writing exercises! Physical exercises, not so much! hehe just kidding! Although I will be honest, by the time school is out and try and squeeze in some writing, my exercise consist of a nightly walk with my hubby. We are usually out for about 45 minutes.
As for writing craft books, I found one for my Kindle I just love! It's entitled, "Riveting Your Readers With Deep Point of View." Excellent!
The Emotion Thesaurus is awesome, too!
You absolutely need the Emotion Thesaurus. I used it on a couple of scenes during editing and it was awesome!
And yes, vacuuming the basement is a total calorie burner. If you did some moving during the week, you're doing good!
I have the Emotion Thesaurus but I could definitely work to build up my craft books.
And I did get out of the chair for a little bit. I think my spreading backside may be hinting I should get up a little bit more often lol!!
HOOKED helped me a lot with my writing. As for exercising... um, I cleaned the bathrooms last night and I vacuumed too. Have a lovely weekend!
I'm going to start counting vacuuming as burning calories too. Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! ;)
Alex, ah yes, save the cat!!
Laura, oh you're one of those people, ha ha. that's great! getting into a routine would definitely help!
MJ, right! King! another on my wish list
Stina, so you are fit and trim physically and and writerly =)
Madeline, I've read your posts about Maass's workshop, thanks for the advice
Julie, great! i will go take a look!
Nick, thanks! and running burns more calories than walking, so faster housework should too, right?
Samantha, i bet you dont have to worry about being fat anyway, college cutie!
JA, good, those chores are good for something! and thanks for the book rec! different is good!
Dana, thanks! i will check it out!
Tyrean, great! let me know what you think!
Precy, perfect, i'm looking at that right now! and the self-editing one sounds helpful!
Talynn, physical exercise is the best thing and i have a hard time motivating myself too. a deep pov sounds awesome!
Gwen, i will have to suck it up and buy it (and exercise too)
Angela, its tough to be a sexy writer, right?
Christine, yay! sweating in any form counts!
There are so many great resources out there. I picked up a new one today on romances, and it's filled with techniques that are just good for writing in general.
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