Books on Creative Writing Techniques?

Question

I've been browsing the web looking for some books on creative writing techniques, but I really couldn't decide what to get. I was wondering if you guys could maybe suggest some that you really enjoyed and/or thought were helpful?

Answer 1

There are a few books about the art of writing that I recommend to everyone. Head down to your local library and take a look at them if you haven't read them yet:
1) "Writing Down The Bones" by Natalie Goldberg
2) "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott
3) "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser
4) "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card (if those are your genres, of course)
5) "On Writing" by Stephen King

My copies of "Writing Down the Bones" and "Bird by Bird" have been read more times than I can count-- the corners are dog-earred, the best quotes are highlighted, and I find them truly inspirational!

Another good read is "No Plot? No Problem!" by Chris Baty (the founder of NaNoWriMo). After those, I would probably pick up the rest of Natalie Goldberg's books.

As you can see, I'm addicted to books about writing!

In addition, there are some great web resources: Forward Motion is an excellent site for writers. I am also providing you a link to Holly Lisle's website-- she began Forward Motion and has an excellent collection of information on almost every topic you could imagine. Just click on "Writers" at the top of the page.

http://fmwriters.com/

http://www.hollylisle.com/

Answer 2

For me the best thing I've found is to read another writers biography on writing. Stephen King has a good one, Janet Evanovich, and another one called storyteller. You can even look at some authors websites because usually they have a section all about technique. Holly Black and Libba Bray both have resource links and exercises you can use to practice. There are tons of books as well, such as writers market, gotham writers workshop. And if you still don't find anything helpful just google exactly what your looking for and you'll be surprised.

Answer 3

I do MA Creative Writing in London. We have been recommended many. I think the best of them are John Gardiner's The Art of Fiction, The UEA Creative Writing Coursebook, The Open University Creative Writing A Workbook with Readings, and Virginia Woolf's A Writer's Diary.

I agree, the Stephen King one is surprisingly good also.

Answer 4

Here's a few that I've used for classes and on my own:

The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood: This has a lot of fun little exercises that you can do to start sparking the creative process. I discovered and expanded on some of my own idea by using some of these exercises.

The Writer's Idea Book and The Writer's Idea Workshop by Jack Heffron: I like these books for when I have the beginnings of an idea but I want to flesh it out a bit. They have hundreds of exercises for developing plot, character, dialogue, and so much more. The books are really well-written and the exercises easy to understand. This is a must-read for anyone hoping to explore creative writing.

The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley: The exercises in this book are off-beat and really original. Kiteley structures the book based on what you want to develop, so you can pick and choose exercises based on your current focus. I really like this one.

45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt: This is a great resource for fleshing out problem characters. Schmidt's book focuses on classical archetypes of Greek myth with examples of how characters from modern and classic books, movies, and television fall into the classifications. She also describes the traditional feminine and masculine journeys in literature. You don't necessarily want to use archetypes for every single character, but you can take the traits and flaws to help build a rounded character.

Answer 5

The best thing I've found to help with writing of all sorts is mind mapping. It works for me and I am not a visual person, so I was surprised. Here's an article that explains what it is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map

Answer 6

The Writers Digest has many good books. WritersDigest.com
Their book "Guide to Good Writing is really good.

Answer 7

I have found Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge to be a wonderful inspiration. It will make you leap into your office and start scribbling away! Its about freeing your life with words and it is fantastic.