Friday 13 April 2012

Books we love

When I started writing seriously I went down to the Library, to the writing section, and picked up a couple of books. One (sorry, I don't remember which) made the point that anyone can learn the 'technology' of writing. So I set out to find a book on the 'technology' of writing.

What I found, at Chapters, was 'The artful edit' by Susan Bell. Read it through then concentrate on chapters II and III and, maybe, IV. I'm on my third or fourth pass through these chapters, and I've marked up a lot of key points. Among other things, this was the book that first explained to me exactly how you 'show and not tell'.

My only criticism is that it has no index, so its very much a book to be read through rather than referred to when you need help on a particular topic. Having said that, read it often enough and you'll know where to find what you want.

The book uses 'The Great Gatsby' for its examples, so if you're a Gatsby fan, you should enjoy it. I went out and bought Gatsby. It helped.

1 comment:

  1. Pretty much anything that James Scott Bell has done, craft-wise, but I ADORE "The Art of War for Writers." Uses a Sun Tzu theme about battles to help you understand the craft of writing. Brilliant!

    Also, Jessica Page Morrell's "Thanks, But This Isn't For Us," to see possible mistakes you may be making.

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