Thursday, February 19, 2015

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Books on Writing for Writers,

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series
Writing Tips
Hello and welcome. So glad to see you here today. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is this is the last blog post in our series, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing. But the good news is that I have compiled all the excellent writing tips and advice into an e-book that will be available this spring. In addition to the tips here, authors share even more insight in writing as a career, publishing, and marketing books inside the ebook. 

Subscribe by email to the J.Q. Rose blog so you can receive updates on the progress and new posts on the blog.

The good news too is how excited I am to have introduced you to new authors and re-acquainted you with others. Along with the writing tips, we also found great romance and mystery stories. In case you missed one of the blog posts in the series, here are the authors who participated. 
***applause***

OCTOBER
2 Roseanne Dowell
9 Miss Mae
16 Heather Fraser Brainerd
23 Marva Dasef
30 Gail Roughton
NOVEMBER
6 Joselyn Vaughn
13 Melissa Maygrove
20 Conda Douglas 
27 THANKSGIVING NO GUEST
DECEMBER 
4 Marsha R West
11 Kathy McIntosh
18 IWSG BOOK
25 CHRISTMAS NO GUEST
JANUARY
1 NEW YEAR'S DAY NO GUEST
8 Sara Jayne Townsend
15 Joan Curtis
22 Helena Fairfax
29 J.Q. Rose
FEBRUARY
5 Heather Haven 
12 C. Hope Clark
19 Resources for Writers


Pile of books courtesy of Stuart Miles
Freedigitalphotos.net
I asked the authors what books they have found helpful in their writing process. I have listed them below.


Mystery author C. Hope Clark said, "Stephen King's On Writing, then the rest comes from reading what you'd love to be able to write. We read too many how-to books on writing instead of reading the good stuff and emulating good writing. We learn more from seeing it put into practice than from lesson plans."

Author Joan Curtis suggests Hooked: Writer Fiction that Grabs Readers and Never Lets them Go by Les Edgerton
The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
by Noah Lukeman 

Author Marsha West advises--There are many, but two that I have are post noted, highlighted, and dog eared (yes, I have the paperbacks) and are great helps with editing. I’m embarrassed to say a couple of judges from the first contest I entered suggested I get these. They also suggested I get one on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. (I really knew nothing about the craft of writing fiction, especially genre fiction.) Here are the first two:
 Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White

Author Sara-Jayne Townsend said--In my view the best book about writing is Stephen King’s On Writing.  He has a very approachable, accessible style and this book is pretty much him sitting down the reader and saying, 'this is what works for me.  Maybe it will work for you too.'

J.Q. Rose says--Here is a list of books on writing that I have used and still use:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Author: Anne Lamott
Publisher: Knopf

Chicago Manual of Style

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing
Author: The Editors of Writer’s Digest
Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books

How to be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play
Author: Barbara Baig

The Elements of Style
Author: William Strunk  and E.B.White. 

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner

On Writing Well
Author: William Zinsser

Reading Like a Writer

Author: Francine Prose
Publisher: HarperCollins

Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times

Editor: John Darnton

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (I found this especially inspiring when I questioned my calling to be a writer.)

Author: Natalie Goldberg
Publisher: Shambhala


I hope you find these books helpful in your writing projects.
What is one of your favorite books for writing?  Leave a comment below. Thank you!





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for hosting this great series, JQ. I look forward to reading the e-book. Thanks again for all the time you've taken over this project. The e-book will be an inspiring read.

J.Q. Rose said...

Thank you, Helena!

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