Writing, that tentacley thing.

[blue_soaring]

In my quest for Writerly Self Improvement (note the Very Important Capitals), I've been amassing a collection of books about, related to, or in the same general vicinity as that writing thing. Said collection so far is teeny, but I'm going to toss out The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon as an amazingly fun romp with grammar (I KNOW, grammar, fun, who knew?) and a handy refresher, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life as an interesting and minus-the-cheese inspirational read that had some genuinely excellent tidbits in it, and The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot by Charles Baxter, which I'm only halfway through but it really gets me thinking, and reading it has definitely made me more aware of how small things can make a huge and subtle impact on what my words are actually saying.

If you guys have some good, great, weird, inverted or just plain interesting books on the subject, I'd love to hear about them! I have a bunch on my Amazon Wish List that either caught my eye or have been recommended, so any comments you might have on those would also be very cool. There are so many bloody books out there that deal with the art and craft that it's tough to wade through them all to get my greedy little paws on the real gems.

Also, my birthday is not until September. But feel free to buy me stuff anyway. :D

Boy, I'm chatty today.

Comments

[feverbeats]

Aaaaaaah, The Deluxe Transitive Vampire is the book of my soul. My English teacher father loves it, too. :D

[blue_soaring]

I wish I'd heard of it sooner! It's actually enjoyable to read, and as most of my grammar is self-taught through excessive reading, necessary and useful! I also enjoyed her The New Well-Tempered Sentence. :3

[iniq]

I own a copy of Card's Elements of Writing Fiction - Characters & View​point and it's one of my favorite books. Now, since I only own three books on writing (Zinsser's On Writing Well which is my go-to book on non-fictional writing styles, and Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing which I like for its chapters on characters and characterizations.) that may not tell you much. What I can say is that Card has a very clear writing style and is easy to read. (Don't know what that says about the book. I just like that he's succinct and clear and doesn't just write because he loves to see his own words on the page.) I loved the chapters on viewpoint! I did a lot of writing exercises using his ideas... just to see how a story changes depending on who tells it (and in what style and with what information), etc. It's a really good book! :)

[annabeth_roses]

I really enjoyed Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynn Truss, because it was really entertaining, but you may have already read that one. It discusses things like the comma and the apostrophe and is quite amusing and easy to understand.

[chichirinoda]

I have Eats, Shoots & Leaves also, and a book that is approximately 100 years old that's basically English Grammar for Dummies. I'll have to go take it down and get the actual title for you when I'm at home, but I picked up that book when I was in highschool and it was my first introduction to the idea that grammar could be entertaining - plus it was very informative and well-laid out.

I have to check out that Deluxe Transitive Vampire book, haha!

[chichirinoda]

When I clicked on the link for that one, it also suggested: The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon and Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose by Constance Hale

I kinda want to buy them, too, just from the names.