Superb Writing Helps

The past year I have been collecting writing books. Well... I actually only own two of them, but WANT to own each of them. In fact, I believe I would be at a mighty advantage if I could memorize each of these books, word for word.

For today's post, I'm merely copying my comments I've made on Goodreads about each of these books. And if you would like to become my friend on Goodreads, please do! I'm under the email address ladyingray03@yahoo.com.

I absolutely LOVE this book! It was exactly what I needed. I've been attempting to revise my story but was still too confused to know where to begin. And then I read this book! Her explanation of throughlines and identifying proper conflicts to make the story work were invaluable. Schmidt categorized conflicts too, according to a successful, unsucesseful, abandoned, or interpreted outcomes. Again, just what I needed.

Admittedly, I haven't read the second half of the book (just glanced over it) because it's packed with outlines for story plots, outlines that can really only be understood one at a time and while attempting to create its particular type.

Bell is so encouraging and presents so many helps for improving plotting problems that I feel like I've just completed a writing course. His writing exercises are really great, too. I'm trying them out, which says a lot, since I'd typically pretend not to notice such discipline!

Stein's teachings about eccentricity in characters is what really hit home to me. But there is SO much to gain from this book. I definitely need to buy it.

I took SO many notes on this; there is so much to learn! I appreciated seeing examples of mixing point of views within a single book, to create a more complex story. Rasley also does a great job of teaching how to write in your character's point of view, including interviewing, "setting in" and heightening one of the five senses.

I liked Stein's examples of both the dramatic and creeping up story beginnings. I also appreciated the publishing section at the end of the book. He really knows it all: a successful author, editor, and publisher, I love how he shares specifics of how he's helped authors in the past.

Something I appreciated having spelled out for me was the importance of using both public and private stakes to conflict your protagonist. My editor, Billy, is helping me with this one. I'm working on my public stakes as we speak.