The Best Four Books About Writing

Now -- midbook -- is the time I find myself dipping into the tomes that tell me what I should be doing. Or at least the ones I hope will tell me what I'm supposed to do with my badly behaved teenager of a book.

There are certain ones I go back to over and over -- each for a different reason.

1) Bird By Bird by Anne LaMott. What can I say? It isn't going to tell me -- or anyone -- how to write a book. But it's going to be there to laugh and cry with, to support and sustain and to make me feel better about life with my teenager... er, book ... when all I really want to do is throw it in the trash bin. I am writing one of those "shitty first drafts" that Anne LaMott talks about -- and it's every bit as bad as she says. But I have to go there in order to get something worthwhile out at the end. Having faith in the process (and the writer and the characters) is important, though. And LaMott helps me do it.

2) The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. I always knew I got stuck at a certain spot in my books. Chris Vogler helped me identify the spot (stage 6). Not only that, he helped me see it was the sheer volume of possibilities at this point that simply overwhelmed me. It wasn't less that was the problem; it was more. I still get stuck there, but I'm philosophical about it now. I deal with it. I try one thing and then another -- and something invariably works. It's not scientific. But then neither is the writer's journey. Not mine, anyway. It's a trip of discovery. But having Vogler hand me a map has made the trek more bearable.

3) Write Away by Elizabeth George. This is a book that I read because I can't do it this way. It reminds me that there are as many ways to write books as there are writers. Probably more. I'm in awe of Elizabeth George's command of her craft and her ability to do it all within a structure she has created that works so well for her. I would love to be able to write a book that way. So far I haven't been able to. But I've written them in countless (well, no actually, 58) different ways thus far. So there is hope. It's a wonderful inspiration.

4) Well, I'm going to cheat here and give you three for the price of one:
a) The Novel Writer's Toolkit by Bob Mayer. It is very nuts-and-bolts. Mayer tells it like it is. And he deals not just with the creative side of writing but with the business side. I didn't read it until recently, but I recommend it often. I think it's a very good, all-around book. He makes no promises, except that to write a novel you're going to have to work your tail off. And I'm glad someone said that. Thanks, Bob.
b) Creating Unforgettable Characters by Linda Seger. This is one I always go back to when I want to remind myself that my characters didn't begin on page 1. They had lives, histories, pains, joys, a whole raft of things that happened to them before I got hold of them that make them who they are. In other words, backstory is important.
c) Kate Walker's 12-Point Guide to Writing Romance by (who else?) Kate Walker. I write mostly genre fiction. Kate does, too. She wrote her book 20 years too late for me to benefit from it getting started. But if I were to start now in romance fiction, Kate's is a book I would want to read. All those 'aha' moments I got after reading 400 romance novels would have come a lot quicker had I been able to read Kate's book. Even if you don't want to write for the same line Kate writes for (Harlequin Presents in the US, Mills & Boon Modern in UK and Mills & Boon Sexy in Australia and New Zealand), what she has to say is well worth reading. Check it out.

If I were organized, I'd have links straight to Amazon or someplace for you to click on (and make a few cents along the way). Of course, I'm not. Sigh. So it's up to you to track them down. And if you want to develop your craft as a writer, you will. I did. They're all worth it.

Spence continues to sulk. I've had it up to my eyeballs. No more, buddy. No more.