With quite a bit of humor, a dash of thoughtfulness, and a dose of wisdom, Bird by bird is a book on writing that's just a little different. Lamott shares her experiences as a writer, as a teacher of writing, and just as an every day person, and distills them into gems of insight and encouragement with a touch of reality. And the book covers more than your usual writing topics, going beyond the how to's into publication and behind the writing into life. While not every writer will find her advice for writing useful because of a clash in writing styles, there is advice in here for every writer.
Impression: While I do believe there's wisdom for every writer in this book - whether a beginner or author of several published book, quite a bit of her advice doesn't work for me because of conflicting writing styles. It took me a long time to figure out how I need to write and it's definitely not the way she writes, so much of her comments on the 'how to' of writing don't help me in particular.
But there's a great deal in the book beyond these basics that is wonderful. Ways to perceive writing, the various stages of being a writer, and life and being a writer. And the whole is told in a very different way than most writing books. Gone is the typical dry, sometimes arrogant, tone, the "oh this is so serious" attitude. Instead, it's lighthearted, humorous, and very real. So while her actual advice on the writing itself doesn't work for the kind of writer I am, I recommend Bird by Bird anyway. There are other, sometimes deeper, lessons inside that I think every writer should hear at least once.
Half flashes of King's life, half advice, On Writing is exactly what is claims to be: "A Memoir of the Craft." The book is broken into three sections. The first covers vignettes of King's life, the experiences that helped shape him into the man he is and influenced the kind of writer he's become. The second is his advice on writing. The third is a postscript about living and writing after being struck by a van while on a walk outside his home.
Impression: While I found the writing advice itself all things that have been said before, much of which I don't agree with, the insight into his life and how writing is so intertwined with it was fascinating. He says many things that resonate, things that I find so true in my own life as a writer, all that come from his personal experiences as a writer, not his advice on what makes for good writing. While I wouldn't list the book among my favorites, or among the best writing books, I do recommend it for the insight into King himself. You can see how he's become the writer he has, where his stories come from and the truth in them that can be found in his experiences. You see how writing can be both a curse and a salvation. For all that, it's a very worthwhile read.
As the title says, this book discusses 38 mistakes that fiction writers make and how to avoide them. Each chapter title is structered as "Don't do this," for example "Don't Mangle Characters' Speech." Topics include everything from procrastination to the basics of writing to what writers do when they're done.
Impressions: While the author has some good advice, there's some things in this one that I had some strong negative reactions to. For example, he doesn't believe in crit groups or workshops (which he calls clubs). His suggestion is to find a professional, published author to take a look at your work. Between lack of time and fear of being sued, it's next to impossible to find authors willing to do this anymore. As for his devaluing workshops, I personally have found them to be growth experiences, both for me as a person and for my writing. I see absolutely nothing wrong with getting a reader's take on your writing.
That's not to say the book doesn't have some good suggestions, but he comes off abrassive and has an absolutist tone that I personally find annoying. It's funny what some writers will consider absolute rules when so many good books get into print that break those rules. Granted, I believe there are guidelines to writing, and I think a writer should know them, but to treat them as the only way to write is wrong to me.
I also disagree with taking a negative approach. I understand it goes hand in had with the title, but I would much rather be told what I should be doing in a positive way. For example, instead of Don't Describe Sunsets, how about "Trim Your Description." Both chapters could explain using necessary details rather than loads of description, but one presents the topic in a more positive manner.
MWA members and authors such as Phyllis A. Whitney, Edward D. Hoch, John Lutz and others give insight to writing a novel and mystery novels in particular. The book covers not only the specifics to mysteries, but the very basics of novel writing, from preparation to market, and has a half dozen chapters on specialties such as the medical and legal thriller.
Impressions: While not as good as Writing the Breakout Novel, this is still an excellent resource, particularly for the mystery writer. I picked it up to help me with my mystery novel (which is probably on indefinite hold while I work on a few other things and learn more about the genre), but have found myself picking it up and looking up things for my non-mystery novels as well.
Written in a question and answer format, The Writer's Mentor covers the common questions posed by new writers: when to write, how to write, where to write, how much writing, and so on.
Impressions: I have always wanted a mentor. Being unable to find one, I figured I was pretty much stuck mentoring myself. When I found this book, I had hoped that just maybe I'd find something of a better mentor than myself. Unfortunately the book didn't live up to even half of what I had hoped. It's okay, but it's definitely very basic and didn't really impress me. The author has an easy voice, and the book itself is an easy read, but if you're an advanced writer it's not going to help you much. She does have a few good suggestions of things to try here and there, but again, most of them I've tried, heard, or am doing.
The second book (and now the only one available) in Writer's Digest short story handbooks, this volume covers more advanced techniques over the same topics as the previous handbook, as well as a few more. Chapters are written by John Updike, Orson Scott Card, Janet Burroway, and many other well published authors. There's a mix in terms of who writes on the various topics, with some topics being covered by several writers and others only having one chapter by one author. However, it is another book with chapters on everything from getting started to marketing, and includes topics such as making your fiction three dimensional, using symbols, and chapters on three forms of specialized fiction: the short short, literary fivtion, and children's fiction.
Impressions: I actually found this volume to be more at my level in terms of where I am as a writer. Not saying that the previous volume is bad, I actually got quite a bit out of it, but it was more basic than this one. However, volume 2 definitely is for more advanced writers, and, after 3 years of writing classes, I got enough out of them to qualify for a bit more advanced than beginner. ;) I am a bit disappointed that the first volume seems to be out of print and is not being used for the short story workshop/class given by Writer's Digest Schools, though. The two books, in my opinion, work best if read together (or one right after the other).
Another collaboration of writers on writing a novel, this one 445 pages and 55 chapters long. Authors include Sue Grafton, Terry Brooks, and Janet Fitch, among others, and has interviews of Margaret Atwood, Tom Clancy, Terry McMillan, Joyce Carol Oates, and several other well known writers. It begins with basics in The Craft, discusses more advanced techniques in The Art, continues on to The Process, takes a side trip into The Genres, and finishes yp with The Marketplace and The Interviews. Most topics are covered by only one author, but a few have a second author presenting a different perspective or a specific point of a topic.
Impressions: This book blew me away and was immediately posted to my recommended books list at my writing journal. I don't even think I've ever READ a book on writing as fast as I read this one, particularly one of 445 pages! And I plan to eventually find some time to read it again, this time without a highlighter in my hand but with a pen.
I refer back to this book often in my writing, have spots bookmarked and commented on, and even the interviews have passages highlighted. As I move books off my small bookshelf on my desk, this is one of the few books that actually stays whenever I'm thinning things out. Only one other book is better: Writing the Breakout Novel. I can't recommend this book highly enough to novelists.
Providing advice on writing the short story, chapters are written by Katherine Greer, John Fitzgerald, Dennis Whitcomb, and others. topics are presented in an order that writers are likely to need them, from how to get started to marketing, and each topic is generally covered by several authors. Topics covered include plotting, flashbacks, transisitons, and a story's openin, middle, and end, among others.
Impressions: I picked this up in an effort to get a handle on my one weak point in college creative writing classes: the short story. I've since elarned that short stories don't always have closure, can be as short as 50 words and as long as 10,000, and can be as concise or as verbose as an author wants and still be good, but when I picked this up, my sotries weren't working, not for my professors at least. Unfortunately the professors weren't very good at giving concrete lessons in writing and the books they chose for textbooks were not much better more often than not. This book gave me a good start as a beginning short story writer who had no idea how to trim her description to reasonable means or how to find the closure her professors demanded. I can't say the book gave me everything I needed or that it fixed every wrong in my writing, but it certainly gave me a start!
Now I just have to figure out how to get my nopvel voice back after aiming my writing for the more concise short story that actually has a better chance of publication (i.e. under 4500 words whenever possible).
Update: This book works particular well when read in conjunction with The WD Handbook of Short Story Writing Vol. II.
With articles from the likes of Orson Scott Card, Mary Kittredge, and Dean Koontz, this book covers everything from planning and plotting to marketing. Most of the various topics only have one chapter, therefore only one viewpoint, but the chapters are arranged in a working order - that is, they are arranged in an order that is similar to a writer's work on the novels.
Impressions: Though there is some very good information presented, I actually found this to be a somewhat mediocre book. For one, it doesn't acknowledge that different authors work differently and generally presents only one person's view on how to develop and work with each topic. The books I've found to be the most helpful are the ones that present varied optinions and give me more than one option to consider and try. Anyway, I picked this up when I signed up for the Writer's Digest Novel Workshop, and in that format it worked well since there is also the workshop's lessons and the correspondence instructor to give other ideas. As a stand alone book, however, I would recommend Writing the Breakout Novel over this one.
Update: I would like to add that The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing is also a better book for the novelist. I haven't opened the WD book since I finished reading it, but I've gone back to the Maas and the Complete Hanbook again and again.
As this book states in the introduction, "self-editing is probably the only kind of editing your manuscript will ever get." Gone are the days when editors actually edited or gave suggestions on edits the manuscripts they felt worthy of publication. Now days writers are on their own.
Written by two professional editors, Self-Editing For Fiction Writers covers some of the most difficult characteristics of writing that authors need to think about: showing vs. telling, point of view, and dialogue among them They also cover a few things that most other books on editing don't: beats, proportion, interior monologue, and sophistication.
Impressions: This is one of the best books on editing I've read. It's clear and concise, and the concepts are made easy to understand, which also made it a very quick read. I even found myself skipping forward to look for the cartoons, then going back to finish reading. Like most books on writing, I don't necessarily agree with everything the writers suggest, but the book still landed on my recommended bookshelf.
Updates: Since reading this book, I've reread it and tend to check back through it occasionally with things I'm having trouble with or need a little advice on.
