I just found that The Times newspaper has an online Style and Usage Guide. This is a great tool when you are writing and need a quick check. If you write on a laptop, as I do, then it is often far more convenient to go to a website than go find a book on […]
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
By Stephen King
Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster, 2000
(Hardcover by Scribner, 2000)
ISBN-13 978-0-7434-5596-1
ISBN-10 0-7434-5596-7
Whatever you may think of Stephen King’s writing, there is no denying his huge presence over at least the US and really the English-speaking world’s writing. This book as an interesting as its author.
Writing a book is a very substantial task. If you are going to get it done you will need discipline and defined targets.
James Herbert: Devil in the Dark
By Craig Cabell
Metro Publishing, 2004
ISBN 1 84358 091 8
James Herbert is an author who is, roughly, the English equivalent of Steven King. Not because their writing is the same, or even their subject matter, but because Herbert is the best selling UK horror writer, he has had a major impact […]
The Elements of Style
By William Strunk and E.B. White
Allyn and Bacon, Fourth Edition, 2000
ISBN 0-205-30902-X
Yes, Strunk and White is a must read. It is not the most exciting but the advice is solid, the writing excellent.
The First Five Pages:
A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
By Noah Lukeman
A Fireside Book, Published by Simon & Schuster, 2000
ISBN 978-0-684-85743-5
ISBN 0-684-85743-X
Noah Lukeman is a New York literary agent. He has represented many best selling and award winning authors and has been in a position to read a massive number of manuscripts; […]
On writing horror
Revised edition
A Handbook by The Horror Writers Association
Edited by Mort Castle
Writers Digest Books, Cincinnati, 2007
ISBN 1-58297-420-9
ISBN 978-1-58297-420-0
If you are interested in writing horror, this 260-page book is essential. In fact there is a lot of good stuff in here for people interested in writing any type of fiction.
After so many years of writing and editing non-fiction, and technical non-fiction at that, why am I interested in writing fiction? I guess there are multiple answers to that question. One is that as an avid reader it is natural to consider writing some yourself. Another is that I feel I have something to say […]
Writing well is a combination of art and craft. Art because it is highly creative and expressive, craft because there are underlying processes and principles that you need to work with to be effective. These are true for both fiction and non-fiction, and even the technical writing that I have spent so long doing.