Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Writerly Reading

I haven't read any books about writing.  I just write because I love it.  :)  I don't know whether these will help me or not, but I think they'll be interesting - I just ordered:

A Novel Idea  by ChiLibris (I found a pretty extensive online preview but I wanted to know what was on the missing pages!)

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Obviously well known.  He is not my favorite writer, but I think learning about his methods might be interesting)

Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Ann Lamot

I just remembered, while perusing B&N online and seeing a very familiar cover, I do have a copy of Thunder and Lightning somewhere.  In a bag or a box.  In the basement or garage.  With all of my old Writer's Market and SCBWI stuff from a time before when I tried to be serious about my writing.

I have to rejoin SCBWI and now I'm going to make myself crazy trying to find that stuff.  I guess it's lucky that we already have a snow day called for tomorrow!

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Great use of a snow day! Thanks for the comment on my blog. I'm now following yours and excited to be! "Dangerous with a Pen" just made me love it right off the bat. That's an awesome title!

Jemi Fraser said...

I agree with Nisa - great idea for a snow day. Even if the buses are pulled off the roads, the teachers here always have to report to work, so I don't get those. We usually get about half our kids coming anyway.

Kelly@ JustWrite said...

Hi Lindsey!

Just started following your blog, and I have a pic, so take that Handsome Hubby!

nukI've read all those writing books. On Writing by Stephen King changed my life in that he made me feel like anyone could do this writing thing. Because of him, I started writing 1000 words a day, and now I have 3 books under my belt. Can't wait to see what you think of it!

Kelly

Unknown said...

Hi guys! Welcome, Nisa & Kelly (and welcome back, Jemi)!

Nisa - Thank you! Sometimes the craziest things come out of my head. Now I have a place to randomly write them down, lol.

Jemi - Oh, no, really? Yuck! It's hard to teach when you only have half your kids. :/ You don't want to do anything really important because you'll end up doing it all over again. We don't get many snow days, but I'll take it! :)

Kelly - Yippee! That makes me really glad I bought that book. We can all use inspiration, right? That's so great that you already have 3 complete MSs. I think you are my idol... :)

Roxy said...

I'm new to your blog also, Lindsey, and it has been very entertaining. I loved the whole "Don't worrrrry about it" and Curly Jones post. SO funny. I have quite a few writing books, and my favorite is On Writing by Steven King. I have never read any of his other books-- I don't enjoy being scared-- yet I love his insights on the craft. Mr. King appears to have a wise, generous soul, and the book gives the struggling writer an encouraging boost.

Unknown said...

Hi Roxy! Thanks for coming back! Curly Jones is definitely a source of endless amusement for us. :) Every age has its joys and challenges, but I think two is my favorite - she cracks me up! Her big sister was pretty funny at two, too.

I've heard all great things about Stephen King's book. I know I have a ton to learn and I welcome that. I'm not sure why I haven't bought more before - probably because I have pretty limited reading time and I'm always consumed with fabulous YA, lol. But I am looking forward to all of the insight that is coming my way!

Unknown said...

Oh, man. I checked the basement to no avail, and I wasn't thinking about how much STUFF is in our garage. And how COLD it is in there when there's two feet of snow outside. Crumbs!!

I guess I'll have to make do with my new books when they get here and go searching for those older books when things thaw out a bit. (And it will bug me until then, lol)

Shelley Sly said...

I'm almost finished reading Stephen King's On Writing (and like Roxy, I haven't read his other books because I'm not into scary stuff) and man... not only does he give excellent explicit advice, but there's so much to learn from his style implicitly. Just reading his well-crafted memoir was enough to inspire me to write better. I think you'll love it.

Guinevere said...

I really liked both King's book and Lamont's (I haven't read A Novel Idea yet, but I might have to add it to the list). Both those books are so encouraging, too!

Unknown said...

Guinevere - A Novel Idea was written for writers of Christian fiction, which is really not what I write (I just write YA). But I caught a piece of it from another writer's blog and the advice was good... I looked it up and really liked what I read in the previews (I found the text online but not in entirety). I loved what I was reading, a lot of it works for any type of fiction.

Shannon O'Donnell said...

On Writing is one of my favorites! I also recommend After The End by Barry Lane. There are several past posts on my blog with mini Barry Lane lessons if you want to preview him.

Thanks for your comment on my blog. My hubby teaches high school social studies - what subject does yours teach?

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Ordering books makes me so happy...
;)