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This article is from the misc.writing Recommended Reading List FAQ, by Terry L Jeffress jeffress@xmission.com with numerous contributions by
others.
2.1.1 On Being a Writer part1 (misc.writing Recommended Reading List)
Bradbury, Ray. "Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity."
Santa Barbara, California: Joshua Odell Editions, Capra Press,
1989. Hardcover, 154 pp, $18.95. Expanded edition. ISBN 1-
877741-09-4, trade paperback, $11.95. Bantam Books, 1995. ISBN
0-55329-634-5, mass-market paperback, $5.99.
"Zen in the Art of Writing" is an interesting examination into
the modus operandi of one of the great writers of our century.
Bradbury's main theme is that writing should be fun and not
arduous work. "Zen" adequately fulfills the title by
describing Bradbury's beliefs about writing and his personal
practices, but it is only a self-examination and may not be
useful to many other writers. (For example, Bradbury writes in
spontaneous flashes and "never" revises his material.)
-- Terry L Jeffress <jeffress@xmission.com>
Brande, Dorothea. "Becoming a Writer." J. P. Archer, 1981. ISBN 0-
874771-64-1, trade paperback, 186 pp., $9.95.
This book was originally published in 1934 and is as fresh as
ever today. An excellent and complete book, dealing with
almost every aspect of the art of writing, with many wonderful
suggestions on how to overcome blocks, view ones own work
critically, etc. The current printing has a foreword by John
Gardner, author of many books dealing with the art and craft
of fiction.
Brown, Rita Mae. "Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of
Writer's Manual." Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1989. ISBN 0-553-
34630-X, trade paperback, $12.95.
Care and feeding of yourself as a writer. Brown, a working
writer, has useful information on what standard of living to
expect (near-poverty), how to make ends meet, and what to do
with screenplays (take the money and run -- what appears on
the screen will probably bear almost no resemblance to your
work; that's why you write novels). Also contains some
interesting philosophy.
Dissenting Review: The chapter on substance abuse is
essential, the rest forgettable.
Chehak, Susan Taylor. "Don Quixote Meets the Mob: The Craft of
Fiction and the Art of Life." Xlibris, 2000. ISBN 0-7388-2476-
3, trade paperback, 245 pp., $16.00.
Chehak describes some fundamental concepts of fiction writing
similar to what you would find in almost any other how-to-
write books, an overview of story arcs, setting, character,
point of view, and dialogue. You would probably get a better
understanding of the basic elements of fiction from a Freshman
literature class, but you don't get too bored because Chehak
generously peppers the text with interesting personal stories
that illustrate her points.
But the meat of "Don Quixote Meets the Mob" comes in part two:
The Art of Life. Chehak philosophically muses about fiction's
role in the lives of both readers and writers, augmented again
with personal anecdotes. She describes her view that many
people live their own lives not in reality, but in some sort
of personal fiction conglomerated from books, TV, experience,
and imagination -- that people see themselves as the hero of
some grand epic novel or action movie, as a Don Quixote
battling against modern forces of evil such as the mob.
-- Terry L Jeffress <jeffress@xmission.com>
Dillard, Annie. "The Writing Life." HarperCollins, 1990. ISBN 0-
06-091988-4, trade paperback, $11.00.
Taken from essays that first appeared in "Esquire," the
"TriQuarterly," and several other magazines. Dillard describes
her experiences as a writer. "The Writing Life" is not a how-
to volume in any sense; the crisp prose provides a direct
glimpse into a writer's fertile mind.
Gardner, John. "On Becoming a Novelist." W. W. Norton, 1983. ISBN
0-393-32003-0, hardcover, 172 pp., $12.00.
The Foreword by Raymond Carver alone makes this book
worthwhile. Although you could call the book "inspirational"
in nature because it deals with the art rather than the craft
of writing (and although it says "Novelist" in the title, the
book is also valuable to short story writers), it is not an
exercise in cheerleading, but rather a serious discussion of
the nature and training of a fiction writer. (There is also a
chapter titled "Publication and Survival.") A wonderful book
for the serious artist.
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