A Few Beginner Books About the Craft
Creative Activation
Cameron, Julia. The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. New York, NY: Tarcher/Putnam, 1999.
Cameron, Julia. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. New York, NY: Tarcher/Putnam, 2002.
Gawain, Shakti. Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life. Novato, california: Nataraj Publishing, 2002.
Grammar
Shertzer, Margaret. The Elements of Grammar. Longman, 1996.
Stilman, Anne. Grammatically Correct: The Writer’s Essential Guide to Punctuation, Spelling, Style, Usage and Grammar. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.
Strunk, Jr., William and E.B. White. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. Longman, 2000.
Workshop
Cleaver, Jerry. Immediate Fiction : A Complete Writing Course. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
Novakovich, Josip. Fiction Writer’s Workshop. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1998.
Olmstead, Robert. Elements of the Writing Craft. Cincinnati: OH: Story Press, 1997.
Stackpole, Michael. 21 Days to a Novel. Stormwolf.com, 2009.
Mentoring & Encouragement
Disch, Thomas M. The Dreams Our Stuff is Made Of: How Science Fiction Conquered the World. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1998.
Gardner, John. On Becoming a Novelist. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999.
King, Stephen. On Writing. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 2000.
Mariani, Philomena. Critical Fictions: The Politics of Imaginative Writing. Bay Press, 1991.
Moorcock, Michael. Wizardry and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy. MonkeyBrain Books, 2004.
Phillips, Larry W. Ernest Hemingway on Writing. New York, NY: Touchstone, 1984.
Elements of the Craft
Bickham, Jack M. Scene and Structure. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
Bickham, Jack M. Setting. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
Browne, Renni; King, Dave. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 2004.
Card, Orson Scott. Characters and Viewpoint. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
Dibell, Ansen. Plot. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
Kress, Nancy. Beginnings, Middles & Ends. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest
Books, 1999.
Kress, Nancy. Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities that Keep Readers Captivated. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 2004.
Noble, William. Conflict, Action and Suspense. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
Payne, Johnny. Voice and Style. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1995.
Tobias, Ronals. Theme and Strategy. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1990.
Turco, Lewis. Dialogue. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
Wood, Monica. Description. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999.
General How To
Bickham, Jack M. The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes: (And How to Avoid Them). Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.
Card, Orson Scott. How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy. Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1990.
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1991.
Stableford, Brian. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction: And Getting Published. NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company, 1998.
Theory
Gardner, John. On Moral Fiction. New York, NY: Basic Books, 1978.
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Lou is an Ennie award-winning game designer and author of Club Anyone, a neonpunk novel set in the acclaimed Interface Zero game world, coming soon from WordFire Press. Words Like Bullets is his blog on writing, the writing life, and what's new with Lou. You can receive these blog posts direct to your inbox by subscribing to Lou News or just learn more about Lou at www.agrestasaurus.com