Thursday, November 17, 2011

About Books On Writing

One good way to get inspired to write is to read a really outstanding book about the craft of writing. There are tons of books about writing and all that it entails. I sometimes wonder if writers who can no longer produce fiction suddenly decide to tell others how to do it until they find a new story to write. A bit of a cynical view, but an awful lot of them come up with tools for writers kind of books.

So, how do you find one of these books? Try googling keywords like best books on writing. I just did that, and you can click on the link to go to the page I found lisitng many possibilities.

Listen to what others writers have to say about books on writing that they like especially well. A personal recommendation holds a lot of weight. It might be from another writer friend, or it could be a book that a person speaking at a conference suggests. Pay attention when someone talks about a book they like.

A third way would be to spend some time in a bookstore that is big enough to have a good selection of books on writing in their reference section. Now you know that telling a writer to spend time in a bookstore is akin to sending a child into a candy store. Browse through the how-to-write books until you find something that reaches out and grabs you. Give it a go!

One of my favorites for fiction writers (and creative nonfiction) is Beginnings, Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress. It's one of the Writers Digest series of books for writers.

How about you? What are some of your favorites? Put them in a comment to share with readers.

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