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to Recommended Reading
Books
on Craft
Boorstin, Jon, Making
Movies Work:Thinking Like a Filmmaker
Also helpful for thinking about how and why a reader enjoys a
novel or memoir.
Butler, Robert Olen, From Where You Dream: The Process
of Writing Fiction
Brilliant.
Field, Syd, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
Excellent for plot.
Gardner, John The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young
Writers
Forget the subtitle, "for young writers". This
is a book for writers of any age, and not necessarily beginners.
The chapter "On Common Errors" is a gem. Also highly
recommended for writers of creative nonfiction.
Gerard, Philip Creative
Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life
Writing a memoir
or a longer, more thoughtful piece of journalism? Use this book
as your project's road map.
Hills, Rust, Writing in
General and the Short Story in Particular
The best book I've found on writing short stories.
Oliver, Mary, A Poetry
Handbook
This one is short and sweet. Finally, an articulate answer to
the question, Why is a rock not a stone? An excellent resource
for poets, as well as prose writers, who should never –
ever – underestimate the importance of the poetry in their
prose.
Piercy, Marge, and Ira Wood,
So You Want to Write: How to Master the Craft of Writing Fiction
and the Personal Narrative
The chapter on dialogue
is the best I've read yet. My workshop students praise this one
highly.
*Prose, Francine, Reading Like a Writer:
A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write
Them
Divine.
Ricco, Gabriele Lusser, Writing
the Natural Way: Using Right-Brain Techniques to Release Your
Expressive Powers
The first and biggest
barrier to writing quality literature is your Left Brain, or
your "Sign Mind." This book shows you how to quiet
the Sign Mind and let your Design Mind emerge to play.
Scarry, Elaine, Dreaming
by the Book
Essential for understanding how and why specific sensory detail
"works" to create a vivid picture in the reader's mind
Sims, Norman, and Mark Kramer,
editors, Literary Journalism: A New Collection of the Best
American Nonfiction
A bit dated now, but nevertheless an outstanding selection. The
introduction on the art of literary journalism (the more fashionable
term these days is "creative nonfiction") is vital.
Smiley, Jane, Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel
Includes her reviews of 100 novels. This is a treasure of a book
by one of our greatest contemporary novelists.
Zinsser, William Kowlton,
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
*The
best of the best.
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