Favorite writing books?

I bought two writing books yesterday: Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell, and Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas. I've just started reading Bell's, and it's holding my interest, which says a lot, lol. I've also read Stephen King's On Writing, which was great.

What are your favorite books on the craft of writing?

Stein on Writing, by Sole Stein.

Over the years I have gathered about 50 book on writing...Stean on Writing, has replaced all ot them.

On Writing rocks.

Domenic, Stein's book has been on my list for awhile -due to your rec, I will now bump it into my Amazon shopping cart.

Do you read it on your boat?

I don't know if I have a favorite. I think one of the best textbooks is Writing, written by Greg and Elizabeth Cowan back in the late 70's while they were both English professors at Texas A&M. They were among the pioneers of defining the writing craft as a specific process. I still see elements of their work in more recent texts. The little book I'm reading now is quite good: The Call to Create: Listening to the Muse in Art and Everyday LIfe, by Linda Schierse Leonard. I mentioned it the other day on the Writer's Cafe forum. It uses a sustained metaphor to compare writing to planting seeds (I'm remembering that the Cowan metaphor was building a house.) The book is well organized, as well as being very readable. I'm still in the Introduction. Today is the first day I've felt well enough to read much since this cold/allergy thing started last week. (Talked to Dave yesterday; he and Lyn started having identical symptoms last Wed - the same day I did - looks like Jaycie's little sniffle bloomed full-blown in the grown-ups.) In this intro, she gives little summaries of each part of the book;

Quote :

"Preparing the ground is a natural process. Roots readh down into the earth and spread to support and strengthen the growing plants and trees. The matted weavings of fallen leaves fertilize the soil.... Humankind's creative process reflects that of nature First we must prepare the ground to recieve both the gifted seeds of inspiration and the ones we have sown ourselves. this happens in the phase of seeding and surrender....Then we must work and struggle to till the soil, to weed out the saboteurs to growth and creativity, and to hone out our skills so the seed can be embodied....First there is the time of surrender. In every creative act we have to take a leap into the unknown so that we can discover the new vision...This is a time of letting go and letting be...being open to whatever spontaneously arises...a time of giving up control......Second, there is the time of work and struggle. Toil and discipline are required to wrest the new image...The new thing struggling to be born requires conscious work and effort to release it."

Glancing ahead I see that the section called "The Caring," which is the hard work part, is divided into 4 sections: Courage, Consciousness, Discovery, and Toil. Being a Jungian, she employs a slew of archetypal characters to help along the way, some helpful, some less so: The Witness, The Tyrant, The victim, The Sentinel...Adventurer..Conformist, etc, and being a psychologist, she uses stories of varied writers and how each faced a particular problem. I've also noticed as I skim ahead that there is much good, sound advice on each stage of the process.

So far, I recommend it.

Ann

Ann, I'm getting a "Julia Cameron" vibe from that book you described ...and the worst books I ever bought on writing were hers, lol. "The Right to Write," "The Artist's Way" -too flowery. Just the facts, ma'am ...get to the point.

Different strokes.

Since I teach writing for a living, when I read about how to write, I want to be entertained, too. I haven't read far enough yet to know if she did a good job of getting to the point.

Ann

I don't think there is any one source that gives a writer what he/she needs. Much depends on the genre and voice of the writer.
I was especially impressed with writing tips shared by Dick Stodghill. He cut through much of the flowery stuff and got to the point.

LC wrote:

Domenic, Stein's book has been on my list for awhile -due to your rec, I will now bump it into my Amazon shopping cart.

Do you read it on your boat?

Not yet. Still getting the boat ready for summer. A second good book is "Nitty-Gritty Grammar," by Edith H. Fine and Judith P. Josephson.