Thursday, July 17, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #68: Writing Books

As with most writers, there are many books on my desk relating to the craft--some are on writing fiction, some nonfiction, some genre specific. While some attempt to inspire creativity, others are more instructional. Many more fall somewhere in between. Here is a random selection of thirteen writing books on my shelves--some of which I've had since college writing courses (and one that even dates back to high school--can you guess which one?).










So...what's on your shelf?


Links to other Thursday Thirteens:

Adelle Laudan * Alice Audrey * Angelle Trieste
Savannah Chase * Diana Castilleja * AJ O'Donavan
Tempest Knight * Shelley Munro * Jennifer McKenzie
Phoebe Jordan * Paige Tyler * RG Alexander
Janice Seagraves * Nina Pierce * Kaige * Chloe Devlin

(leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



17 comments:

Savannah Chase said...

i really want to get the one by King, i hear its really great...i already have a huge library of writing books but you can never have enough

Shelley Munro said...

I like Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon.
I didn't know Snoopy had a writing book. :)

Unknown said...

Have you checked out Faith Bicknell-Browns new How to Avoid Writers Hell series? It's fantabulous. Happy T13!

Anonymous said...

Hehehe! Love the Snoopy one! I'm terrible at reading this "how-to book. I bought a couple a few years ago, started reading them, but got bored soon and put them aside.

Jennifer McKenzie said...

Ooooo I want that snoopy one. I've got "On Writing" "Bird By Bird" and Strunk/White. That Elizabeth Berg book looks interesting and Terry Brook's book is on my "want" list.

Phoebe Jordan said...

Happy T13! Love your list very creative and I'll have to keep this books in mind when I write. Hope to see you at my 10th edition about Linda Lael Miller at Talk About My Favorite Authors blog.

Anonymous said...

I've read quite a few on your list.

Savannah -- King's ON WRITING is quite excellent.

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing the one you've had since highschool is the Schollastic book.

Paige Tyler said...

Okay, I'm kinda embarrassed to admit it, but I don't have any instructional books related to writing!

*hugs*
Paige

My TT is at http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/

R.G. ALEXANDER said...

I need to get some of those-I heard about the King one.

Heather said...

Savannah~ You can never have enough books, period (despite the article I posted yesterday). lol

Shelley~ Ohh, not familiar with that one. And of course Snoopy has a book on writing! *g*

Adelle~ No, have not seen those. Sounds intriguing!

Tempest~ Isn't Snoopy great? How-to books can be difficult to digest sometimes. I try not to approach them as set-in-stone instructions, but more as what works for one writer and try to take from them what works for me.

Jennifer~ I've never read Terry Brooks, but absolutely loved this book. I like that he emphasizes this is what works for him and how he approaches different aspects of writing. It was also fascinating to read about his road to being published.

Heather said...

Phoebe~ Thank you, I look forward to checking your lsit out later.

Nadia~ Wow, lots in common, huh? Who knew! *g*

Alice~ Yes, that would indeed be the oldest in my collection. There's evena section at the back where you could log your writing assignments, teacher comments, and areas for improvement. I um...even added extra log pages for college assignments--how bad is that?

Paige~ Not a single one? Seriously??

RG~ As Nadia said, the King one is quite good. I also recommend those by Brooks and Lamott, and the Berg is pretty interesting too.

Chloe Devlin said...

Hmm... let's see which ones I've got.

Bird by Bird
Elements of Style

That's it. But I can't believe you don't have Deb Dixon's "GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict." It changed my writing life entirely.

Heather said...

Chloe~ I've heard a lot about that one, but hav enot gotten my hands on a copy. Yet. ;)

Janice Seagraves said...

I have a few of yours. The one by King, and Snoopy. I had Shrunk and White but it got lost. I think I loaned it to my mom and she didn't give it back.

Happy TT.

Janice~

Heather said...

Janice~ Tell Mom you want it back! Ah, well...at least you have Snoopy. ;)

Gwen Mitchell said...

Eep! I really don't have any! O.O

A couple of those are on my 'TBB' list though. I have Ann Hacker's guide, and umm... a book from a workshop I'm doing. That's it. *guilty*

Guess it's time to explore that side of the B&N. Hmm...