About Writing - Samuel Delany
Filled with writing gems that defy being prised from their substrate, Delany's essays and interviews will reassure new writers and challenge old hands.
Notes on Vocation
Webster defines of vocation as “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action” or as “the work in which a person is employed. Occupation.” Murikami wrote about the second but what I wanted to hear about was the first – the calling to write.
Voice - James Scott Bell
A straightforward method based in acting techniques for distinguishing the voice of your writing with actionable steps and lots of examples.
Tool: Movement and Flow
Professional writers will tell you that they find exercise helpful, not just in counteracting the sedentary lifestyle, but in finding the "Flow" state most useful for writing.
The Way of the Fearless Writer - Beth Kempton
A refreshingly gentle take at how to structure a writing practice for those who are beating themselves up for not writing and those working up the courage to share their writing with others.
Maybe plan to fail too...
My question to you today is what’s the plan when things don’t go to plan?
TOOL: Outlines
These two books tell you exactly what bullet points to list, how many you'll need, and what actually needs to happen in the middle of your novel. Best of all, both of these books feature free online resources you can use right now.
Novelist as a Vocation - Haruki Murakami
A decent Murakami biography with a thin veneer of writing advice. However, if you are looking for insight into his specific practice and novels, this is a book for you
Gentle Writing Books for When Life Gets Rough
Four books with a gentle approach and encouraging tone along with specifics about starting or maintaining a writing practice during difficult times.
2K to 10K - Rachel Aaron
Based on a viral blog post from 2011, Aaron attempts to impart her speed demon writing ways. She claims that most people double their writing output following her method.
Tool: Alternative Narrative Structures
Consider the best pattern for your story might not be a “narrative arc” or five act structure. Stories can also expand or collapse in spirals, meander through multiple plots or points of view, or be loosely associated narratives with a single root point.
Meander Spiral Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative - Jane Alison
Like a natural historian of text, Alison catalogs and describes several alternative narrative structures at both the macrotext and microtext level.