Wriging

I loved Stephen King's "On Writing".

Yes, Stephen King's book is a good one.

Another one comes to mind..Wild Mind, by Natalie Goldberg.

I've never read that Stephen King one but it keeps popping up all the time. You've finally pushed me over the edge ryan. I'll bite and go get a copy.

I read Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott a long time ago but remember it as an excellent book.

Natalie Goldberg I'm not familiar with so thanks for that suggestion Lorri.

What a great question! So many people just plunge in without any guidance and don't realize that there are a lot of resources out there to help them on their way.

Books about writing: I really liked Francine Prose's recent book, Reading Like a Writer, which basically tells you that one very good way to learn to write well is to read well -- in other words, if you study carefully the work of people who're good at what they do, you will learn a lot about being a good writer. She's got a lot of specific suggestions and even if you're not a writer, you can pick up a lot of good ideas about what to read next.

I second Bird by Bird, which I thought was very inspiring -- she really encouarges writers to let go, and just WRITE.

Elizabeth George's Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life is also a good recent book about writing. Although George is a mystery writer, what she has to say about writing is generally interesting and useful.

There's a series of writing books called Elements of Fiction Writing. I've used Nancy Kress's Beginnings, Middles & Ends and thought it was pretty decent.

You might also think about taking a writing class -- I never thought I'd do something like that, but when I did I cursed myself for waiting so long and being so foolish as to think that good writing couldn't be taught. It can -- as in many pursuits, people get to be good not necessarily because they're geniuses but because they worked and worked on their craft.

And, finally, you should read -- a lot -- and pick apart the people you like to see how they did it. There's nothing wrong with doing a little imitating as you work toward your own style.

Good luck to you!

Calualien: You asked the same question that has been on my mind recently.

Bloglily: You. Rock. Seriously, this is awesome advice.

Gnorb, You are a sweetheart. Not to mention the fact that you actually do rock, while I, being the mother of three young children, am lucky if I roll out of bed in the morning and manage to find a clean pair of socks to wear to work.

Anyway, we all have good writing in us -- people who blog are that much closer to having it emerge, because this form of writing encourages people to write pretty often and if you write pretty often you can't avoid getting better at it. As someone who spends a lot of time reading and writing, it's such a pleasure to see people out there working so hard on something I love so much!

I like a series called "Write Great Fiction" (search for that term on Amazon, and all four books in the series pop up). Each book is by a different author, and each focus on a specific technique in writing (Plots; Character, Emotion and Viewpoint; Dialog; Setting & Description) I started with what I find I have the most problems with--plotting--and found it so helpful, I bought the rest of them.

@Griffin: You will love it. You can thank me later. :)

I recently come to the point where I don't see the point of blogging as in journal writing. Perhaps because I find most of my thoughts echoed by millions of others.

I want to entertain my readers.
Thanks for all the suggestions, now I just have to find those books.

In terms of pure technical style, I'd highly recommend Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.

My girlfriend (an editor) gave it to me for my birthday. I've been looking for this book all my life.

Adrian -- Have you seen the illustrated edition? It's a lot of fun. And I'm with you on Strunk & White. For a very long time, I thought it was something different, something dry and prosaic, a kind of dictionary of grammar rules. And so I never picked it up. How silly I was.

Yes, Strunk & White is a definite must-have for writers.

Yeah Lily, my version is the illustrated one. I totally enjoy it. Maybe that makes me some sort of grammar geek or something.

Heck, my girlfriend is an editor. That must mean something...

Does any of these book explains what type of meaning will be conveyed if the grammar structure is used in a certain way? English is not my mother tongue, so I am ignorant of these slight structural effects and are not able to discern how my readers will feel by just reading what I wrote.