Reading about Writing

Since I began this project, I’ve read a lot about writing. There are many, many books out there. I did a search on Amazon for “writing” and it came back with 42,056! Some books are written by writing professors or teachers. Many are written by famous writers. Stephen King wrote On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Anne Lamont wrote Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. In his book Ernest Hemingway on Writing, Larry W. Phillips collected the musings of the legendary author.

And then there are the blogs. I subscribe to several, including Fiction University, A Writer’s Path and Writer’s Digest. Each day, I get helpful hints in my email.

At times, I feel guilty spending so much time reading about writing when I think I should be writing instead. But I’ve learned so much! As I’ve acknowledged from the beginning, even though I’m a writer, I’ve never written a novel.

The advice I’ve read has been enormously helpful. It got me over the brick wall I ran into after last November. I had 50,000 words, but I didn’t know what I had or how to organize it. If I wanted people to read my book (and I do), I felt a responsibility to deliver the best possible book. I wanted a book people would enjoy reading and would recommend to others.

So far, the advice I’ve read has helped me structure my story into a readable structure. As I continue, I’ll incorporate what I’ve read as I work to enrich my character descriptions, create realistic settings and craft believable dialogue.

In case anyone is interested, I’m going to add a page to this site which includes the resources I’ve found. It will be titled “Resources” in the tabs above. I’ll try to update it on a regular basis. It’s my way of paying it forward.

Thanks for following the journey! I welcome feedback and suggestions.

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