Hello, writers. WO will be competing with (not in) the Olympics tonight, so between that and my internet connection blipping out every 35 seconds, I'm going to have to eschew any Serious Lit'ry Discussion tonight in favor of another round of
What's your favorite book about writing?
In the past I've mentioned Nancy Kress's Beginnings, Middles and Ends, and David Morrell's Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing. As for Stephen King's On Writing, I've gone off it in reaction to the whole "palpable b****ery" thing.
I've just started reading Becoming A Writer, by Dorothea Brande, which was much recommended at the writers' conference I recently attended. I'm about halfway through it, and so far it mainly addresses what's probably the biggest unaddressed topic in writing books: How the heck do you make yourself just sit down and write? I had the book from the library, but once I realized this was what it was about, I went out and bought it.
And I also recently bought and am really enjoying Diana Wynne Jones's Reflections on the Magic of Writing. It's composed of essays, articles and speeches that she wrote over the course of 30some years, and collected and edited shortly before her death. Wait, I didn't make that sound very appealing, did I? It's fascinating. Especially if you're a writer of fantasy or of children's books. I'm starting to get a sense of how much she enjoyed transforming horrible people and situations into wonderful characters and plots. Writing well is the best revenge.
(In other books-about-writing news, I'm still not a fan of those books which talk a lot about the flow of writing without any apparent concern or interest in the product. But that has to do with my motives for writing. It's not a problem with the books.)
What about you? Favorite books about writing? Any new ones you've discovered since last time we talked about this?
Tonight's challenge:
Write anything you want, beginning with the following words:
We are the servants of...
Try to limit yourself to 150 words.
Write On! will be a regular weekly diary (Thurs 8 pm ET) until it isn't.
Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.