More Books Than Ever on Writing?
I was in Barnes & Noble over the weekend, and I noticed even more books about writing on the shelf than I have in past visits. Is it just me, or is the Books On Writing section in your local bookstore exploding? I flipped through a few, although most of them seem to cover all the same material ad nauseum. Every one seems to have a chapter on plotting, one on characters, one on doing outlines, etc.
For me writing theory is alot like my other pet subjects: quantum physics, networked complexity (Six Degrees, etc.), branding. Once you’ve read 3-5 books on the subject, it gets harder and harder to find more books that have a perspective you haven’t encountered, or any new information. As you can tell from my own Books On Writing section, I’ve already plowed through a decent list of them.
Like my other pet topics though, it’s hard for me to just walk away from the subject. I still love to read about it, and the quest to find new information on the topic is fun in itself.
I noticed Nienke mentioned First Draft In 30 Days over on her site last week. I didn’t see that one in the bookstore or I would have flipped through it. It does remind me a lot of Chris Baty’s book “No Plot, No Problem: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days” - which I didn’t feel the need to read because I’ve already participated in NaNo and I know what that’s all about, and could probably tell you that Baty’s book is an advertisement for NaNoWriMo without having read it. ;-)
One that I have seen mentioned in the blog circles a bit is Novelists Boot Camp, which after flipping through at the bookstore seemed to have a few trickles of alternative techniques and information.
I’ve encountered quite a few writers who don’t ‘believe in writing books’ — I’m not sure what there is or isn’t to ‘believe,’ it’s not exactly a religion? Although, I think if you are interested enough in a subject to spend a lot of time on it, wanting to read a book about it is only natural. I do it to learn new tricks or techniques to make the hair-pulling a little less, and life a little easier.
Do you read books on writing? Why or why not? And does it seem like there has been a flood more recently? Any good recommendations?
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September 25th, 2006 at 2:25 am
I’m really picky when it comes to non-fiction. If the content is organized and presented well, I end up skimming, so it’s not worth buying. I have a very small handful of books on writing fiction. Right now, I’m reading The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman. He’s a lit agent whose clients have been nominated for and won Pulitzers. Funny thing is, he says a whole lot of the same stuff as Miss Snark. Imagine that. ;-D
September 25th, 2006 at 4:00 am
Eliza, I have that book in the pile. I’ll get around to it!
And I know what you mean about non-fiction. I find that most non-fiction you only get about 5% to 10% new information from things you already know in most cases, especially if you’ve already read books on that topic. You really have to work for that 10%. To me though, I really value that 10% or however much it really is. The things you don’t know are often the gold mine.
September 26th, 2006 at 1:36 am
I don’t usually read books about writing, as in reading from beginning to end, but I would flip through them, especially if I look for a particular advice.
But the same goes for other non-fiction books. I don’t usually read read them, but kind of go throught them, if you know what I mean.
I’ve never read No Plot, No Problem, but quite honestly, not having a plot would strike me as quite a problem ;)
September 26th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I have read a lot of books on writing in the past, but now that I’m actually writing, I don’t read them anymore. I’ve learned more in writing my own novel than I could learn in books. It’s not to say they didn’t teach me anything, but like you said in your post, once you’ve read a few…
There is one book I pick up once in a while to remind myself of what I should be focusing on. It’s Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maas. With his book I get more about what to focus on in my book rather than specific techniques. I like that because it’s inspirational and sometimes I need that. :)
September 26th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Bren, I’ve heard of Writing the Breakout Novel, but never got around to checking it out. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll put it on the list!
Melly,
Yeah… not having a plot is exactly the problem I had with NaNo last year. I just hashed out a novel in 30 days which was fine, except I forgot to include my carefully crafted scenes and that little thing called a story. ;)
This is one reason I’ve been so harsh on drafting. If you don’t have a plot, or your scenes figured out, all you’re going to end up with is a bunch of meandering garbage. Forgive me for putting it harshly, but that was my experience with the blind drafting process anyway. ;)
I’m going to spend all of October plotting/outlining and getting my scenes ready for this year’s NaNo.
September 26th, 2006 at 8:43 pm
It’s a great book, you have to read it. I feel so inspired every time I pick it up. :) I’m going to a writing conference in Surrey in three weeks and Donald Maas is going to be there. I’m looking forward to his workshops.
BTW, I put you on my Blogroll, too.