Topic: Best book on learning to write well?

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I'm looking for one or two great books to help improve my writing. My grammar and punctuation are decent. I'm looking for something at the next level: how to create compelling characters, interesting secondary characters, balance between description and dialogue, compelling dialogue, world building, story pacing, when to show vs tell, etc. I understand that one book won't cover all of these perfectly, but you get the idea.

Suggestions?

Thanks
Dirk

Quote Post 1

2 Reply by njc (edited by njc 2018-07-09 03:54:26)

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

It doesn't hit those points directly, but if you haven't read Matt Bird's =The Secrets of Story= you need to put it on your list.

Quote Post 2

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

A few to consider:
Sol Stein “On Writing” (he has several others; they are all good)
John Gardner “On Writers & Writing” (he has several others; they are all good)
Donald Maass “The Fire in Fiction”
Victoria Mixon “The Art and Craft of Writing Fiction”
Constance Hale “Sin and Syntax”
Stephen King “On Writing”

Quote Post 3

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

I personally liked Writing Great fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques by James Hynes. This is part of the Great Courses series so the paperback/lesson is on the expensive side. You can go cheaper by buying the audiobook but it doe not include any of the workbooks.

Quote Post 4

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

Use your favorite books to read. Study the presentation of voice, dialogue, description, transitions, pace, foreshadowing, characters, sub-plots, etc. We often learn more by examples we enjoy than from self-help books. Punctuation/grammar would probably be an exception to that philosophy. Take care. Vern

Quote Post 5

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

Dirk,
IMO the best way to improve your writing is to write.
smile

Quote Post 6

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

dagny wrote:

Dirk,
IMO the best way to improve your writing is to write.
smile

I agree--practice makes perfect. But for the folks like me, who had things to say but didn't know how to say them, I offer these:
A Writer's Guide to Characterization and 45 Master Characters, both by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
20 Master Plots by Ronald B Tobias.

These are like coloring books for beginning writers. From these, I was inspired to research historical backgrounds, languages, cultures, even did horoscopes for my characters. Of course, the books didn't tell me to do this, they just stimulated my thinking. Then I wrote.   JP

P.S. I still research EVERYTHING, because I don't want to be the writer who turns readers off by making a stupid, avoidable mistake. I just have to ask my cop friends what they think of crime shows to be aware of this responsibility to readers.

P.P.S. Don't go for any of those books that promise you can write a book in a day, a week, a month, etc. Those are marketing gimmicks. Some of us work slow, some work fast. At all speeds, you should at least do your readers the courtesy of cleaning up grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You just have to go at your own speed.

Quote Post 7

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

"Practice doesn't make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect." Courtesy Lee Trevino I believe, but would certainly apply to writing as well as golf. Writing the same old stuff doesn't improve anything no matter how much you write. Take care. Vern

Quote Post 8

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

Michael O'Donohue, "How to Write Good," National Lampoon.  OK, I'm kidding. lol  But the bit of advice that stuck with me--if you can't think of an ending, have all your characters run over by a truck; if they are truck drivers, have them run over by a really big truck.  (When NL gave out spoilers, they had to say that they weren't joking when they revealed the end of "Lonely are the Brave."

Quote Post 9

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

Thank you, all. I finally figured out what type of help I want and found a primer on Amazon called Write Great Fiction - Revision and Self-Editing. Highly rated. I have less than a day to figure out if it's garbage and return it, so I best get cracking.

Quote Post 10

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

I really liked Stephen King's On Writing. If you're interested in something besides a book I loved Michael Hauge and Chris Vogler's The Hero's Two Journeys. It's a video from M.H.'s website Story Mastery. Chris Vogler's stuff is classic hero's journey and Michael Hauge's about the inner journey and the outer journey. I am a huge fan of Michael Hauge.

Quote Post 11

Re: Best book on learning to write well?

I returned Write Great Fiction - Revision and Self-Editing. It's a good book on writing, but I'm looking for a book on editing. Found one called Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, written by a pair of professional editors. It's in its 2nd edition and highly rated (500 reviews).

Quote Post 12