Books on Writing

I don't know about you, but I have shelves of books on the craft of writing. Some are terrific, some not so much.

What's important to remember when you buy a book on the craft of writing, is that it won't do you any good if it just sits on your shelf looking good. I know this from personal experience.

So, as a kind of accountability, here are the craft books I'm reading bits from every morning (beginning this morning) while I sit outside in the Colorado sunshine:

The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell. As opposed to craft, this is more about the writing life, and how we can get through it. I'd begun reading it ages ago, but for some reason (probably the need to organize my desk), I shelved it.

The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. I don't always agree with him, but I always learn from him. Again, I'd started reading this one a long time ago and had to pull it off the shelf this morning.

Write Away by Elizabeth George. This one has been untouched on my shelf, but not for very long. George is going to walk me through her process, and I have the feeling she'll hold my hand if I need it.

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I confess that this book has been in my home longer than I can remember. Even before I seriously considered writing a novel. Unread. I think because I thought it might be a lot of psycho-babble. But, along with Write Away, it's probably the book I'm most excited to read now. She teaches us how to unblock our creativity. I'm willing to give that a shot.

What books on craft are you committed to reading right now?

CR: Passions of the Dead by L.J. Sellers.

It's all better with friends.

The Perfect Timing of James Scott Bell—and Frustration

A lot of you know I've been struggling with the ending for my manuscript. Endings are at least as important as begininings, and I want to do this right.

I also want it to be memorable. I have a terrible time remembering endings . . . movies or books. It's critical, to me, to write one that fits this terrific story and sticks with readers who are like me.

So, the battle rages. I've squeezed out only a few hundred words a day (I haven't hit 800 a day since I can't remember when) and frustration is building.

Because I've read both his fiction and non-fiction, seen him at writer conferences, kept him in my "Must Read" tweet column on Tweetdeck and occaisionally pop into Kill Zone, I feel like Jim Bell and I have been friends for years. And this morning, he did what any good friend would do.

He kicked me in the butt.

NOTE: Through the Memorial Day Weekend, my published partners at Crime Fiction Collective are donating their profits to a family in Joplin, Missouri who lost everything. One of my other partners is splitting hers, to include victims of the same rash of tornadoes in Minnesota. And, another author has joined us, offering his profits as well. Please, please, please . . . if you're looking for a good read, consider buying either a download or a paper book. To learn more about the books, and the family, see Crime Fiction Collective.

CR: Alone by Lisa Gardner.

It's all better with friends.

ARE YOU A WRITER OR WHAT?

First, a bit of a rant and then on to what I want to talk about.

I'm reading a novel right now by a best-selling author of many books. This is the first one I've read of hers. The writing is good, I'm pretty sure the story will eventually be good, but I'm so bored with the relationship between these two characters I can hardly stand it.

They have a history. I get it. But every time the storyline seems to be moving to THE STORY, their history is mentioned yet again. I get it already. I'm beginning to believe that this rather thick paperback could have used some serious editing. And frankly, I'm a little concerned about how many scenes might be incorporated later because "sex sells" even if it's gratuitous and has zilch to do with the story. (There has been none up until this point, but it sure looks like the groundwork is being laid . . . so to speak.)

End of rant.


So now . . . are you a writer or what?


I included something from James Scott Bell's The Art of War for Writers a while ago about acting as if you are a successful writer. Not in any kind of prima donna way, but with assurance and confidence. You can read that post here.

In the August 2010 issue of The Writer (a magazine I can usually always get something out of), there's an article where several top-notch authors share the best advice about writing that ever came their way. The price of the issue is worth this article alone.

I've picked one to talk about because I think it's important (and have recently discovered Alafair Burke). Ms. Burke tells readers that the best advice she ever got was to think of herself as a writer. Period.

If you don't treat yourself seriously, who will? I know of a wonderful best-selling inspirational author whose husband still thinks of them as "those little stories" his wife writes. Um . . . what?

We can begin to feel silly if we're not agented or published or selling screenplays or having people write us enormous checks for doing what we love to do. We get uncomfortable seeing ourselves as writers because we're a little lower on the writing pyramid, and it's a long way up. So, we let other things mess us up. We feel guilty for the time and effort this job requires.

My friend and critique partner, Kelly Irvin, once commented about how difficult it was for her to spit out the words that she was a writer. Her first book was published this year, with a second contract from the same publisher, and a two-book contract just in from another publisher. I think, for Kelly, it's a little more real now.

But what about the rest of us?

Repeat after me, "I am a writer. I am a writer. I am a writer."

(By the way, Sue Grafton said the best advice she ever received was, "Park your butt at your desk and get on with it.")




CR: Aha! You thought I might slip. Nope. No way. Unless I decide I really, really like this book, it's not gonna show up here.

It's all better with friends.

Writer Wrejection

The Resilient Writer from Catherine Wald is a terrific book for seeing how the guys who've made it, er . . . made it. She interviewed 23 top authors and compiled their stories in one volume for the rest of us to both heed and take heart.

Her interview with Chris Bohjalian (Midwives) garnered this nugget: "At some point, you go from taking pride that you're sending your material out, to fear. At around number two hundred fifty, I began to stop taking pride in this wall of rejections that I had built, and I began to wonder if I was ever going to sell anything."

And this one: "Every novelist's first or second, or even third novel is an apprentice work that should probably never be published. It's the same way that a concert pianist never goes directly to Carnegie Hall; you've got years and years of practice first."

I'm also reading James Scott Bell's new book for those of us who are trying to figure out the pieces of this endeavor, The Art of War for Writers.

Bell's chapter 8 has more highlights than any other chapter I've read so far. It's about the kinds of fear we face as writers.

" . . . Fear of not being good enough; of not getting published; of getting published and not selling; of getting published once and never again; of getting stomped by critics (even those within your own family)."

He closes the chapter out with some concrete things we can do:

"1. Determine that you will act as if you have no fear. Act as if you are a successful writer. Don't do this with arrogance, but with determination.

2. Don't wait for your feelings to change; turn fear into energy for writing. . . .

3. Set writing goals that challenge you. . . . "

Neither of these are books on craft, but they are filled with the kind of details and inspiration we all can use on a daily basis.

OT: I'm sitting at my nearby Border's Cafe, trying to get some work done. There are a few quiet people here, intent either on their own laptops, or reading. But there is a group in the corner who are talking in Spanish. Quietly, but it's still kind of weird. This is when I wish I'd kept up with my Spanish lessons last year rather than making it a resolution for this year.

I'm such a snoop.

CR: Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein. At the moment I'm bogged down in one of the biggest information dumps I've ever seen. Although it's interesting, I'm wondering how much of it is going to actually be meaningful to the story.

It's all better with friends.

Speed Bumps in The Zone

Saturday was a 'Wahoo!' writing day for me. Over 2,000 words. (2, 047 to be exact.) Followed by Sunday with a thrilling er, well not-so-thrilling, 366 words. Followed by today with . . . well, it's not over. Right?

What happened? I quit Saturday night because my eyes were getting tired. My new reading eye (LASIK was about nine days old on Saturday) yelled "Uncle!" and I gave in and closed down.

But that's such a lying stretch of foolishness. I've had good writing days in the past with lousy writing days following shortly thereafter. And I can only blame a pooped eye on one of them.

Part of it is fear. The 'zone' puts me on such a high, I'm afraid a) I'll get there and never come down, or b) I'll never find it again.

Time for a Reality Check.

James Scott Bell has a wonderful remedy for any kind of writing reluctance. He does the Nifty 350, or the Furious 500. It's bichoking (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keys) with a short-term target. When he first sits down to write, he goes for his Nifty 350 (or 250 or 450) and then has something very positive already done to kind of jump start his next bichok moment. Which comes easier because, well, look at what he's already accomplished for the day.

Giving yourself a good reason to pat yourself on the back is always effective. Just make sure it's a pat you believe in.

The zone comes and goes. Some days it's elusive, other days it threatens to devour me (how cool are those days?), but I can always tuck myself in for a Nifty 350.

You?

JF: Die For You by Lisa Unger who I discovered thanks to Jenny Milchman.

It's all better with friends.

Books about Writing

I have an embarrassing amount of books on the craft of writing. Some of their pages have never seen the light of day. Or my desk lamp.

I can say the same thing about my cookbooks, but that's another story.

I've only read two books about writing cover to cover. bird by bird by Anne Lamott is a delightful, easy read. It's not so much on the craft of writing, but the life of a writer. One of my favorite novelists, Lamott continued to entertain me with bird. And she gave me permission to write an awful first draft. I'll always love her for that.

The other one I read cover to cover is Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. This woman had the courage to write an entire book about what to many is the dry topic of punctuation. A topic, by the way, that in writerly circles is not quite so dry, and has brought more than one set of writers and their editors to blows. Truss brought humor to the table and kept my wandering brain on task.

I've had skips and starts (and stops) with Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern (my very first writing book and recommended to me by Lisa Samson who writes so much like Anne Lamott it's unbelievable), Stein on Writing by Sol Stein (as I remember one interesting thing in this book, I remember a second, and a third), Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell, and don't let me forget Walter Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel.

Right now, I'm slowly working my way through Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass (I recommend you get the workbook as well) and Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon.

The intriguing thing with all of these books is that they're like reading the Bible. Different things pop out at me at different times. Something that had been vague and nebulous six months ago becomes solid and an aha! in a nanosecond.

I subscribe to The Writer magazine. The cool thing with this little fellow is that reading the bits and pieces I'm interested in within its covers creates such an itch in me I have to get back to bichoking. That alone is worth the subscription price.

I hope I've touched on one or two of your favorites, and maybe helped you make a decision on another one. What's important to remember is that these are only tools. They won't write a novel on their own. I know. Believe me, I know.



Still reading Deadly Beautiful.

It's all better with friends.