Comments on: Are there any really good books to help with novel writing?

By: MysteryWriter

MysteryWriter — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:09:59 +0000

My top 3 favorites:

1) Self-editing for fiction writers
2) On Writing (Stephen King)
3) The first five pages (Noah Lukeman)

The Writer’s Digest books can be pretty good, too. But not enough to pay for. Check your library for those. But the three I mentioned above are good enough to buy. I re-read those.
References :

By: Sky

Sky — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:32:59 +0000

Building Better Plots by Robert Kernan
References :

By: Persiphone_Hellecat

Persiphone_Hellecat — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:42:59 +0000

I recommend two books – The First Five Pages and a wonderful novel called The Novelist.

I tend to do my historical research as I go along if I can. In fact, I do all my research as I go along unless I need to know something sooner than it comes up in the book in order to plant a clue or something like that.

And in spite of the fact that I advocate outlines, Im not an outliner. I wing it. Somehow Im one of those people who can hold a whole story in my head without an outline.

Pax – C
References :

By: Bashful Reader

Bashful Reader — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:29:59 +0000

Lawrence Block has one titled: Telling Lies for Fun and Profit
References :

By: Globetrotter

Globetrotter — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:22:59 +0000

Two excellent books I have found specifically regarding novel writing are:
The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
http://www.amazon.com/Marshall-Plan-Novel-Writing-Guaranteed/dp/1582970629/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4388864-4683214?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177987954&sr=8-1
I own this one, and although I don’t follow it to the letter, it really has some excellent ideas to stimulate your organization. It’s very thorough regarding planning out your novel. It has tips to think about how many main characters you should have, how many action sequences, etc.

Novelist’s Boot Camp by Todd Stone
http://www.amazon.com/Novelists-Boot-Camp-Boring-Bestseller/dp/1582973601/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4388864-4683214?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177988061&sr=1-1
I don’t own this one, but I’ve taken a thorough look through it. It is filled with army green outlined pages which annoyed me, but the advice is good.

OH. And another book that I do own is "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass. This is another very good one to get your ideas flowing towards a more marketable story.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Breakout-Novel-Donald-Maass/dp/158297182X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4388864-4683214?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177988377&sr=1-1

On the novel I am currently working on, I’ve done the outline first. I have a big chunk of it written, and the outline really helps keep me focused and organized. I work on researching as I’m creating. In terms of outlining, I just started with the bare minimum. I did a few timed sessions, 30 minutes each, probably 5 times. That got my story rolling. Great question!

Best wishes!
References :

By: tmoney007nc22

tmoney007nc22 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:10:59 +0000

There is such an ambiguity among authors on what writing "should be", but of all the books written on the "how-to" of writing, Stephen King knew EXACTLY what he was talking about. He knows of the "bullshit" (as he puts it) surrounding these books that try to tell you how to write. He exposes the crap which authors try to sell in their "how to write" books. He is very upfront and personal, and it is an excellent read. The title is "ON WRITING." It is the only book I found to be in the least bit helpful when I began to write.
References :