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Just like the title implies, I am looking for your best recommendations on books that will tell me how to write books.

More specifically, I would especially like to read books on plotting and scene writing. I am not bad at coming up with characters, and I'm not terrible at coming up with plots, but I would welcome any material that could give me a few pointers on deriving the maximum tension from a given situation, finding and fixing plot holes, condensing the story/scene down to the essentials without losing anything, etc, etc. I have a few books in mind to order already, but I would like the input of better-read writers first.

Oh, and I'm more interested in writing "literary fiction" versus "genre fiction", if that is any help with what I'm looking for. (Meaning, don't suggest something like "How to Write a Romance Novel", lol)

Sapphi wrote:... but I would welcome any material that could give me a few pointers on deriving the maximum tension from a given situation, finding and fixing plot holes, condensing the story/scene down to the essentials without losing anything, etc, etc.

Can those things actually be taught by a book? I mean, maximum tension appropriate to a given scene varies by where the scene is in the rising and falling action arc and the specifics of the scene in your story. Plot holes are found and fixed by asking questions over and over again, then questioning every answer until you can't anymore. Condensing the story or scene down to the essentials without losing anything is going to be ENTIRELY dependent on YOUR story. There are not any rules for these sorts of things - you have to feel them and be intuitive. Basically, these are the things that separate the average writers from the great writers and largely comes down to talent and practice.

The best and only writing advice you really need is from Mark Twain:

1. Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

2. Use the right word, not its second cousin.

3. As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.

4. You need not expect to get your book right the first time. Go to work and revamp or rewrite it. God only exhibits his thunder and lightning at intervals, and so they always command attention. These are God's adjectives. You thunder and lightning too much; the reader ceases to get under the bed, by and by.

5. Substitute damn every time you're inclined to write very; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

6. Use good grammar.

7. Damnation (if you will allow the expression), get up & take a turn around the block & let the sentiment blow off you. Sentiment is for girls. . . . There is one thing I can't stand and won't stand, from many people. That is, sham sentimentality.

8. Use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English--it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.

9. The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.

10. Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for.

I think you might find this interesting.
Sure helps me sometimes.

I think that Rabbit is right in that cultivating a good writer's intuition is essential to writing great fiction (some of the best things I've written came straight from my gut without all the "rules" I learnt getting in the way), and that's something you can develop by simply reading and writing and living and feeling as much as you can.

But you knew that already. And for most of us non-geniuses, that's not quite enough.

Books on writing can definitely help you improve your craft. Don't think of it as learning rigid "rules". Writing is a skill, and like any other skill, it can be honed by learning from the insights of masters who have figured out what (in their opinion) makes good writing good. It's why writers should learn to analyze and critique literature in great detail; by trying to figure out "how fiction works", essentially, you increase your knowledge of the tools of the writing craft and how to use them more efficiently. By integrating this kind of technical writing knowledge with your own reading and writing experiences, you learn how those tools work for you. That Mark Twain list, for example, has some gems in it, but that's obviously a list that works for Mark Twain and writers like him. You'll see great works of fiction breaking rules from that list constantly. And also it's rather simplistic. There are many, many theories and opinions out there on how to write well; I recommend that you read advice from a wide variety of authors that you like and respect and try and figure out how to best incorporate what you've learnt into your own work, instead of just sticking to a simple list of rules.

Here are some recommendations:

This recent Writers Unboxed article seems like it would be very useful to you. Pay attention to the three key points she brings up at the end of the interview. I think they might be crucial to solving some of the issues you say you have. Of course, this is merely an article, and not a full on book, but it might be a good place to start.

I also highly recommend Stephen King's On Writing, which is a highly entertaining piece of writing in its own right, in addition to being a great guide on how to write well. Another book that was quite useful to me personally is Nancy Kress's Dynamic Characters, which focuses on the relationship between character and plot and how you can generate gripping stories with the right kind of characterization.

Just today, Writer's Digest put out a tutorial that seems like exactly the kind of thing you're looking for: An Agent's Tips on Story Structures that Sell, which also has book recommendations as well. It's from a literary agent's perspective, so that might be even more useful, since you'll get the perspective of somebody who gets books published. (Writer's Digest is a great resource for writers in general, so it may be worth your time searching the site for articles/posts that have to do with your issues.)

And last but not least, try Plot & Structure (subtitle: Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) by James Scott Bell. This book seems like it would be the most directly useful to you, what with its emphasis on everything to do with plots. Here's a review excerpt from Amazon:

Bell addresses just about every aspect of plotting I could think of, from "What's a Plot, Anyway?" to generating ideas, dealing with beginnings (and middles, and endings), handling individual scenes, crafting complex plots, integrating character arc into plot, different systems of crafting plot, revising plots, plot patterns, plot problems, cures for plot problems, and even checklists to go through to make sure you're remembering everything as you write your book.

In some chapters, he does go into specific tips for genre novels, but he pays attention to literary fiction as well, and most of what he talks about can be applied to both genre and literary fiction.

How NOT to Write a Novel was a hilarious read, and if you want some light, funny reading, I would highly recommend it, but for some reason the stuff it talked about just didn't stick with me. I don't think I remember a single tip from it. Maybe that's just me though.

LateWhiteRabbit wrote:

Sapphi wrote:... but I would welcome any material that could give me a few pointers on deriving the maximum tension from a given situation, finding and fixing plot holes, condensing the story/scene down to the essentials without losing anything, etc, etc.

Can those things actually be taught by a book?

I knew that was going to be the first response...

I understand that it's not like I can buy some magical book to tell me how to write the specific things that are in my head. But surely there are some with helpful information on writing - like what works, what doesn't, why it doesn't, examples of both the good and bad, just to get me thinking. I thought to ask because I've been skimming the (depressingly small) writing section in my college library and various writing blogs on the internet and have already learned a ton. Maybe it shows how "average" of a writer I am... (Or just how terrible my K-12 education really was...)

Anyway, thank you for the advice/Mark Twain channeling, we can always use more of that

Hijiri wrote:http://www.hownottowriteanovel.com I think you might find this interesting.[/url]
Sure helps me sometimes.

I saw that on Amazon. It looks like a hoot. I held off from it, though, because as funny as it probably is I wasn't sure if it would help me improve:

Reviewer on Amazon wrote:I bought this hoping to learn how I might fine tune my manuscript and avoid common pitfalls of a beginning (though not entirely untalented) writer. What I got was a book that utilizes examples of writing so bad they weren't helpful. I kept thinking 'Well, duh. I know THAT's not acceptable. And anyone who has read more than a few novels and is serious about writing well would know that, too.'

Anarchy wrote:I think that Rabbit is right in that cultivating a good writer's intuition is essential to writing great fiction (some of the best things I've written came straight from my gut without all the "rules" I learnt getting in the way), and that's something you can develop by simply reading and writing and living and feeling as much as you can.

But you knew that already. And for most of us non-geniuses, that's not quite enough.

Right - because when some of us try to write from the gut, we instead end up puking the story all over the place.

Anarchy wrote: Books on writing can definitely help you improve your craft. Don't think of it as learning rigid "rules". Writing is a skill, and like any other skill, it can be honed by learning from the insights of masters who have figured out what (in their opinion) makes good writing good. It's why writers should learn to analyze and critique literature in great detail; by trying to figure out "how fiction works", essentially, you increase your knowledge of the tools of the writing craft and how to use them more efficiently. By integrating this kind of technical writing knowledge with your own reading and writing experiences, you learn how those tools work for you.

Yeah, I do understand there are few concrete rules in writing (It blew me away the first time I read classic Russian literature, for instance, because all I'd really ever read was British, and thought it all had to be like... well, British.) But just like as an artist I have to study human anatomy, as a hopeful writer I think I should study story anatomy as much as I can.

Thanks for your recommendations; I'll be sure to check them out when I've got the time.

Sapphi wrote: I saw that on Amazon. It looks like a hoot. I held off from it, though, because as funny as it probably is I wasn't sure if it would help me improve:

Reviewer on Amazon wrote:I bought this hoping to learn how I might fine tune my manuscript and avoid common pitfalls of a beginning (though not entirely untalented) writer. What I got was a book that utilizes examples of writing so bad they weren't helpful. I kept thinking 'Well, duh. I know THAT's not acceptable. And anyone who has read more than a few novels and is serious about writing well would know that, too.'

Yeah, I got the same feeling too. It felt like it was focusing more on being funny instead of actually being helpful to someone who's trying to improve their writing. It's like how Zero Punctuation is less about reviewing games and more about taking the piss out of games in a ridiculously hilarious way.

I highly, highly recommend reading through some of the blog posts on Terrible Minds and possibly buying his e-books, which are both amazingly hilarious and informative. (here is the writing tag on his blog) He gives great tips on a variety of different aspects of fiction-writing and I've found this site to be the single most helpful writing resource I have in my arsenal. It's true that he curses a lot and his tips are written in a funny way, but it's still spot-on advice and I think his writing style helps the tips stick in my head better. XD He recently wrote up a great post on “Show, Don’t Tell”.

There is a tenet that I live and die by as a writer. A good writer HAS to be a good reader. If you don't read your writing will most likely suck. Reading stimulates your writing skills and expands your vocabulary so that you can express your thoughts better. I ALWAYS read before I go to bed at night (if I don't spend the whole day reading that is) so I can expand my literary horizons. My suggestion to you is to just pick up some books at the library and find your muse in the different writing styles that you see. In order for your writing to stay fresh and unique you need to draw inspiration from other works of fiction.

I will also recommend Writer's Guide to Character Traits. It gives a psychologists point of view on the many character traits in the human psyche and presents it in easy to read bullet format. This book REALLY helps in fleshing out characters and presenting them authentically.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Guide ... 0898799015

The only book on writing I'v ever read was Steven Kings' "On Writing". It's a great autobiography and explains writing "rules" in a very refreshing way. However, I've always thought the way you write better is do two things:

1.Write everyday.

2.Read everyday.

Writing isn't something you can be "wrong" at I believe. It's an art. The more you write, the more you see your work, the more you will relaize your style and your flaws. That also goes from when you share that with others (as long as you don't hang on their criticism as absolute). The more you write what you believe to be a tense theme, the easier it will get to write. A book can never teach you anything...just give you ideas to work with. It's up to you to actually put them into action.

So whether or not you get a book, keep writing. The more you write, the more you're polishing the diamond out of the coal.

The standard ones are usually:

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
IF you could only afford two, get these.

Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress
Revision by Reed
78 reasons why your book may never be published & 14 reasons why it just might by Pat Walsh

And for fun "Robert's Rules of Writing". Love that one.

I've got more, but those are the ones I would spend my money on again.

For free resources:

Miss Snark - This one deals with the agent/writer relationship more, but there's lots of awesome gems about writing and story, etc.
Learning how to Write (Novels) with Uncle Jim - And the forum is invaluable.
Writing World - This website has been around since forever.

Hm. If I remember any more, I'll mention it. I wasn't a fan of Stephen King's On Writing. It had some interesting points and it was entertaining but I dunno, not my style I guess. Bird by Bird is also a popular one, but it's too flowery for me.

Go to your local library, and fish out all the books on writing they have. There's usually a section.