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.

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.