Mar 8, 2011

A Writer's Obsession

Happy 13th Birthday Emily!
Drop by and visit her at Paper Dolls - she'd love it :-) 

After seeing how many audiobooks I have on the craft of writing, I decided I should tally up which ones I have on my shelf. Unfortunately, I've probably read about 10% of these (and that might be an optimistic figure). Somehow the act of owning the book makes me feel like I should already have the knowledge from the text. When I was a kid, I would sleep with a text book under my pillow before exams. I thought my brain would absorb the information while I slept. Yeah, great method.

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
English Essentials by Mem Fox and Lyn Wilkinson
How Writers Write by pamela Lloyd
Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb
How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N Frey
No Plot? No Problem by Chris Baty
On Writing by Stephen King
Publish for Profit by Cyndi Kaplan
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell
Characters, Emotion and Viewpoints by Nancy Kress
Dialogue by Gloria Kempton
Description and Setting by Ron Rozelle
Speak our Language: The Story of Australian English by Bruce Moore
The Elements of Style Illustrated by Strunk Jnr, White and Kalman
The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman
The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman
The Writing Book by Kate Grenville
StoryWorld by John and Caitlin Mathews
Steering the Craft by Ursula K Le Guin
Literati by James Phelan
Writer's Reader: A Guide to Writing Fiction and Poetry by Brenda Walker
Writer's and Illustrator's Guide to Children's Book Publishers and Agents by Ellen R Shapiro
Write On: A Conference Approach to Writing by Jo-Ann Parry and david Horsnby
Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron
Writing Feature Stories by Mathew Ricketson
Martin's Young Writers Guide
Zen in the Art of Writing - Ray Bradbury

How's your shelf looking?

14 comments:

  1. DawnMarch 8, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    I would love to soak up words while sleeping (never enough time in the day!)...your list is impressive

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  2. EllaMarch 8, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    I love yours! I remember my friend telling me that. I slept with my notes under my pillow ;-D

    My daughter turned 15 on Saturday; I hope your daughter has a marvelous day!~

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  3. Alleged AuthorMarch 8, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    I wish I could own that list! I have a few books, but the hubby put the kibash on me buying any more books for a month. Le sigh.

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  4. Charmaine ClancyMarch 8, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    Dawn - I'm not sure about impressive, I haven't actually read many, but yes I do have a unique talent for purchasing :)

    Ella - Sweet. As a skinny red-haired kid, I didn't get many notes worth keeping under my pillow, yours sounds better than math textbooks.

    Alleged Author - Yeah, my Hubby's in agreement with yours. He will shake his head sadly when he sees this post.

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  5. Myrna R.March 8, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    I'm as guilty as you are for buying books and trying to absorb them through osmosis. I have quite a collection of "how to write" books. Maybe someday I'll read them.

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  6. mooderinoMarch 8, 2011 at 10:52 PM

    Good list. Digging the site, lots of useful info. My blog is also writing related so I've stuck your badge on my site to send a few more people your way. If you'd be interested in hosting my badge you can find it on my blog.
    regards
    mood

    ReplyDelete
  7. Colene MurphyMarch 9, 2011 at 3:10 AM

    Wow! Awesome list!!

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  8. Charmaine ClancyMarch 9, 2011 at 6:41 AM

    Myrna, it might be like the stories of little boys found smoking - maybe we'll be made to sit down and read them all in one go to help us get over our addiction (actually that sounds like fun punishment). :)

    Mood - Thanks for dropping by - badge added :)

    Colene - Thanks :)

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  9. Paula RCMarch 9, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    Wow you won't believe it but I just looked up at my shelf and I can see many of the same books on mine. I read over 250 books on 'How to' when I first started writing 10 yrs ago. I'm going to put some of the books on Ebay now because as my much beloved said now you've read them, you should be doing it instead. One of the best books I have ever read is 'Getting the Words Right: How to revise, Edit & Rewrite by Theodore A. Rees Cheneny. It was a great help to understanding how to trim away weak or extra words to tighten your writing.

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  10. Charmaine ClancyMarch 9, 2011 at 9:43 PM

    Thanks Jarmara - now there's another writing book I need :)

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  11. Lynda R Young as Elle CardyMarch 10, 2011 at 5:50 AM

    wow, that's an impressive list. It's obvious I need to read more ;)

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  12. Charmaine ClancyMarch 10, 2011 at 6:40 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Charmaine ClancyMarch 10, 2011 at 6:42 AM

    Lynda - after seeing how many of those are untouched on my shelf - I need to read more too ;-j

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  14. AnnaMarch 10, 2011 at 2:38 PM

    IMHO, the only two books you need are King's "On Writing" and Strunk and White. Best writing books EVER!

    ReplyDelete

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