Books on Writing

Writing Fiction – A Guide to Narrative Craft  (Janet Burroway)

I’ve found this book very helpful.  It is suggested reading for the Humber Correspondence Course for Writing.  Although I’ve heard some complaints that it is too basic, I find it to be a good primer, effectively covering the fundamentals, and a good book to quickly review before starting any fiction project.

The Art of Fiction – Notes on Craft For Young Writers  (John Gardner)

Another book of fundamentals, a bit more wide-ranging, providing a few interesting side notes.

Self-Editing For Fiction Writers  (Renni Browne and Dave King) 

Written from the point of view of editors.  Both Browne and King are editors and have been for many, many years.  I tend to find self-editing the most challenging aspect of writing, so this is a very handy book to have on hand when the first draft is done.

Aspect of the Novel  (E.M. Forster)

A higher level examination of the anatomy of the novel by a master.  Just about every other book on writing that I have read refers to this one.  It is actually a collection of lectures that Forster delivered at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1927.  He’s droll and erudite and intimidating, but it makes for rich reading.  I can’t say it is as helpful as some of the other books, in a nuts and bolts perspective, but it provides a deeper insight into the essence of great fiction.

How Fiction Works  (James Wood)

A guide to the inner machinery of the novel from one of the most respected literary critics.  Published just recently, in 2008.  A very rewarding read and one to be re-read.

According to Google Books, “What makes a story a story? What is style? What’s the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely—from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings—Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step.  The result is nothing less than a philosophy of the novel—plainspoken, funny, blunt—in the traditions of E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel “

Webpages and Websites

I stumbled upon a great source of writing advice just recently at Steven Heighton’s website.  Steven is a fellow Kingstonian and a writer I admire.

In his A Few Memos To Myself  Steven lists some advice to young and aspiring writers.  You can read the full list here:  http://www.stevenheighton.com/posts.html#AFewMemosToMyself

My favourites?  #4 and #5, quoted below:

iv Allow yourself to enjoy it. Squash the temptation to accentuate, poeticize, wallow in the difficulties of the writing life, which are probably not much worse than the particular difficulties of other professions and trades. Take a tradesman’s practical approach to your development: quietly apprentice yourself to language and the craft, then start filling up your toolbox, item by item, year after year.

v Ignore Byron who wrote that “We of the Craft are all crazy.” He was largely right, of course; ignore him anyway. To romanticize The Writer as pursued by furies, enthused by Muses, beset by demons—this is nothing but professional self-importance and self-pity. Writers have no monopoly on poverty, humiliation, self-doubt, or aggressive inner demons. Close your door and get on with it.

I’ve been susceptible to these delusions in the past but I continue to learn that honing the craft of writing happens like any other skill – through patience, determination, hard work, and humility.

Advice On Novel Writing  (Crawford Kilian)

http://www.steampunk.com/sfch/writing/ckilian/#16

A decent run-down on the basics by Canadian novelist and longtime educator (now retired), Crawford Kilian.