What's Jack up to? Mr. Pushy has been just that lately. Pushing his luck with the early wake up calls and coming over to my side of the bed giving it a bit of a hard shove. He may look small but that dog is strong. Oh Jack, you know I'm not a morning person. Lord knows you get quite the attitude when folks come around messing with your afternoon naps.
Twitter can be the devil, but it can also be a wonderful thing if used correctly. Last week I posted a Friday tweet question.
What are your favorite writing books? Please RT.
I'm happy to say I got lots of good responses and some of the books were new to me. Here is the list in pretty pics. Some that got multiple nods: Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, Steven King's On Writing and Forest For The Trees by Betsy Lerner.
And you thought you could just sit and write. Well, I know I at least hoped.
Please share some of your faves that were not on the list or tell me if you're a writer that just wings it. I have to say, though I have a few of these and reference back to them often I have the hardest time getting through a writing book. Maybe that's my problem. Hmph!
Now if you're not a writer what sort of tools do you use to hone your craft?
Best,
Kwana
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14 comments:
I have the Anne Lamotte - book and it is next to read-
In our quest, our creative one, we need not worry about being right, it is through mistakes that we do our best. I always look for error or for differences that make it work, and somehow are less crafted, just more instinctual. I think you just have to write from you, chew gum, listen to your music and let the words flow freely. The force is within and may the force be with you.
pve
PVE said it so poetically! :)
A pencil and brush are my tools. Getting lost in an illustration- adding detail to make it more intricate, adding depth and personality. Adding more and more books to my wish list!
Looks like you have a great collection.
The gent I met last Thursday, Tom Touhy shared some wonderful words of wisdom I thought when he was writing his book. A great story on how he was able to finish the book. He basically said when he first started he struggled because he was trying to write like others, but than once he started writing things he enjoys and his passion the words just started to spill out.
I feel it in my bones- soon your pages will be filled.
I think for all of us- if it comes from the heart and soul it comes freely.
Enjoy! xoxo
Hi :)
An excellent list of books on writing. Thank you for sharing :)
Love From Canada
twitter.com/RKCharron
xoxo
THe thing I love about Save the Cat is if you're struggling with the concept of ... well, High Concept it really boils it down for you (though the book is geared more toward screen writing than book writing).
I'm not a writer, but I like to write. And because I don't like rules and such, I don't try to follow any. Which is probably why I'm not a writer. But sometimes I just feel the words welling up and forcing themselves onto a page or a computer monitor. Usually from experiences I've had or thoughts I'm thinking, or questions in my mind. Having said all that, I love Anne Lamotte, and think I will have to snag that one.
Hi! Stopping by from SITS and happy to find this great list of books on writing! Look forward to following you! :)
Bird by Bird is very good. The phrase has joined our family lexicon. I think often of Eudora Welty who was asked by a young woman should she become a writer. In Welty's own style, she said volumes when she replied, "If you can do anything else, you should." I take that to mean that a real writer can't be stopped from writing. You have to do it. The greatest skill to beginning to write is what one of my professors called "butt time." Meaning you have to put your butt in the chair and stay there and work at it, over and over again. (This advice was, of course, before the laptop. It was precomputer, even. I love the convenience of the computer. I miss that moment of inserting a new beginning (paper) into the typewriter and the sounds of rolling it in place. Then, of course, staring at the terrifying blankness until words would come...or not. Be the journeyman, not the planner of the journey. All the best.
I aspire to be a better (or at least a decent...ha!) writer so I'd love to know which are your "must reads." Or your other methods of choice?
Laura, I have not read them all all but I love Bird by Bird and The Right to Write. My method is to just push through it. Grrr. Poverty breeds creativity.
Thanks for all the wonderful and inspirational comments today. Writing is so solitary and so subjective. It tough being a artist reliant on the outside world to say if you are worthy or not. You all are wonderful.
i think my all-time favorite is Nancie Atwell's In the Middle. great ones also on the teachers and writers collaborative site (twc.org)
"On Writing" really is superb.
"Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg, and "The Faith of a Writer" by Joyce Carol Oates also get the creative juices flowing.
Kawana,
On my reference shelf: Writer Mama by Christina Katz
Make a real living as a freelance writer by Jenna Glatzer and the Magazine Markets series by Marni E. McNiff..there are others on my shelf but like you, I have a hard time reading them all.
I do agree that Poverty breeds creativity...
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