Good books on fiction writing?

[chongjasmine]

Are there any recommended good books on fiction writing, especially in the science fiction and fantasy category?

 

[Brian G Turner]

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes - Jack Bickham. Relatively short and succint book on general issues.
Save the Cat - Blake Snyder. Punchy booklet on character develop arcs used for screenwriting, but is easily applicable to novels.
The Writer's Journey - Christopher Vogler. Covers mythic structure.
Anything by Donald Maass.

ADDED: Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer is a good comprehensive guide aimed at all levels of writer.

 

[LittleStar]

I've managed to hold out for this long, but you wore me down, Brian! 1 order for Save the Cat has been placed

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Mittelmark et al's How Not to Write a Novel

Funny but very useful.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

King's On Writing. The only writing book I've ever been able to get through.

 

[MWagner]

Techniques of the Selling Writer. I've got a bunch of books on writing, and this one has more concrete advice on the nuts-and-bolts of writing popular fiction than all the rest of them put together. It's not a book of inspiration or encouragement. It's a tough-talking guy straight out of a 1950s police drama, rolling up his sleeves and firing off pointed, specific questions you need to answer in order to write a story anyone else will want to read. Scene and sequel, motivation and response units, practical techniques for characterization - each point brought home by the author stubbing out another cigarette and asking if you're taking all of this down because if you don't then he's not gonna be responsible if they find another body dumped in the river next week. There's a reason it's still in print 50 years after it was written.

I enjoyed reading King's book, but more as a memoir than a practical guide to writing. According to King, it's all about just sitting down to write for a few hours a day every day. Worked for him, I suppose.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

According to King, it's all about just sitting down to write for a few hours a day every day. Worked for him, I suppose.

Well, to be fair, it works for springs, too.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Well, to be fair, it works for springs, too.

Well, except for an nth of his talent and any of his earnings.

Actually, I think it's a bit unfair to say that's all he talks about in it - there is a lot of memoir in the first half, but the second half is full of good, well thought out advice,

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Oh, now, how much had he earned by the time his first book came out?

 

[ratsy]

On Writing is great....and TDZ, he was making a few dollars at it selling stories to Magazines. Back then, there were only a handful of them and he was making a few hundred per story. His memoir part is actually very interesting, and hearing about the process of selling his first book ( was it Carrie? ) was really crazy...he got an unheard of amount in an advance.

I need to read over the writing parts again too. It was really good advice but a review would be good

 

[chongjasmine]

Thanks for your recommendation.

 

[Toby Frost]

How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by J.N. Williamson. The last few chapters are outdated (this was written just before the internet) but the rest of the book is extremely useful.

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Techniques of the Selling Writer. I've got a bunch of books on writing, and this one has more concrete advice on the nuts-and-bolts of writing popular fiction than all the rest of them put together. It's not a book of inspiration or encouragement. It's a tough-talking guy straight out of a 1950s police drama, rolling up his sleeves and firing off pointed, specific questions you need to answer in order to write a story anyone else will want to read. Scene and sequel, motivation and response units, practical techniques for characterization - each point brought home by the author stubbing out another cigarette and asking if you're taking all of this down because if you don't then he's not gonna be responsible if they find another body dumped in the river next week. There's a reason it's still in print 50 years after it was written.

Came here to recommend this book. It is the single most on-point and straight-forward craft book I've ever read. And I've read quite a few. It's kind of embarrassing how much I've highlighted this book. This is a run don't walk kind of rec.

 

[M Harold Page]

Swain is the book that got me over the hump too, though his advice relates more to the shorter forms and embeds certain ideas about how fiction should be structured. I wrote a long review if anybody is interested.

I also wrote up why so many writing books are a waste of time, and in doing so identified some good ones.

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

Swain is the book that got me over the hump too, though his advice relates more to the shorter forms and embeds certain ideas about how fiction should be structured. I wrote a long review if anybody is interested.

I also wrote up why so many writing books are a waste of time, and in doing so identified some good ones.

Yeah, I would definitely agree with your review of Swain. I cringed more than a few times at his subtle and not-so-subtle sexism. If the reader can overlook those faults, then the actual mechanics he talks about are solid.

The fiction as fractal point you make is a good one. I've said the same before around here and other places. A good scene, a good scene-and-sequel, a good sequence, a good act, and a good act structure seem to largely depend on one thing: a good understanding of action and reaction.

 

[marmalade]

Has anyone read How to Write a Damn Good Novel, by James N. Frey? If so what did you think of it?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Has anyone read How to Write a Damn Good Novel, by James N. Frey? If so what did you think of it?

I read it some while ago - while I don't remember the specifics, but I recall it as a decent and concise read.

 

[marmalade]

Yes I must admit that I too have forgotten what it actually said, but I do remember I was enthusiastic at the time (I hope something got into my writing, even subconsciously).

 

[Hex]

I really enjoyed the Frey and lots of his techniques are helpful -- especially the idea of building tension through a scene. I find it difficult to apply these things consciously, but with Frey's suggestions I could look at a scene I was struggling with and re-write to make it stronger (I think).

For writing in general, I absolutely loved Mark Tredinnick's Little Red Book of Writing (beware! there's another by the same name -- I don't know if that one's any good). I loved the way he talked about writing without absolutes -- about writing singing (yes, I know I use that term all the time -- it's so right) and I love that the book itself is beautifully written. He doesn't tell you not to do things, but he points out that some choices can make your prose less clear, which is more persuasive than an absolute without explanation.

Another book I found really helpful -- and this one was written by a fantasy author about writing science fiction and fantasy -- is M Harold Page's Storyteller Tools, which is brilliant for many of the things I struggle with. For example, it's really good on plotting things out and working out how structures need to work. I always struggle horribly with structure so it was such a relief to find a book where the principles behind telling engaging stories were explained without recourse to graphs and seven point whatnots etc (it probably has those too -- it certainly has diagramming), but the bits on thinking through the story and the scenes were a revelation. Also, there's really helpful stuff on how to work with description (another thing I sometimes struggle with). So, there are lots of good tools AND it's funny, easy to understand and easy to read.

 

[marmalade]

Italo Calvino actually prepared 6 lectures on writing which were compiled in Six Memos for the Next Millennium to be given at Harvard, though I believe he died before he could deliver them. The themes are:

1. Lightness
2. Quickness
3. Exactitude
4. Visibility
5. Multiplicity
6. Consistency

I started it a while ago, reading the Italian version, but only read the first lesson. I found it quite hard to get into, though I suspect the language was part of the problem, not at the time being very fluent. It's definitely worth a go though, and I will probably pick it up again one of these days. It's very short.