Comments on: Books for Writers: Which Are YOUR Favorites? http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/ Tools and Trade Secrets for Aspiring Writers Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:13:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: tomcolvin http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175092 tomcolvin Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:32:48 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175092 NOTE -- I am posting this on behalf of Michael Ham. TC<br><br> I somehow could not post this comment in response to your "favorite book on<br>writing" post:<br><br>My overall favorite is not Strunk & White: abjurations, even with examples,<br>fail to teach because the mind is passive. I have a particular love the for<br>unabridged edition of <i>The Reader Over Your Shoulder</i>, by Robert Graves<br>and Alan Hodge, because it lends itself to exercises that enable the<br>reader/worker of the exercises to really learn the skills of revising (which<br>is where what is written gets much, much better).<br><br>I have a post that describes the routine, but basically it's this: about 1/4<br>the book is dedicated to a history of English prose style, with many<br>examples. Then about 1/4 consists of the rules that good writing obeys, with<br>many examples of actual published prose that breaks the rules and becomes,<br>on analysis, unintelligible. The final half of the book consists of passages<br>from a great many writers, all pasasges from published writing, with Graves<br>and Hodge carefully marking every violation of the rules and explaining the<br>problem that each violation causes, and then their rewriting the passage.<br><br>My proposal is that you take each passage (without comments) and try for<br>yourself to spot the rule violations and, after about 20-30 minutes of<br>effort, rewriting the passage. Only then do you look at what Graves and<br>Hodges found in the passage. Your mind, prepared by your own efforts, will<br>then actually absorb what they say and internalize it.<br><br>At <a href="http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/11/11/robert-graves-1895-1985/" rel="nofollow">http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/11/11/robe...</a><br>you'll find the process described more clearly and also a link so you can<br>download the example passages in PDF form for you to mark up.<br><br><br>Michael Ham<br>Monterey CA<br><a href="http://leisureguy.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow">http://leisureguy.wordpress.com</a><br>. NOTE — I am posting this on behalf of Michael Ham. TC

I somehow could not post this comment in response to your “favorite book on
writing” post:

My overall favorite is not Strunk & White: abjurations, even with examples,
fail to teach because the mind is passive. I have a particular love the for
unabridged edition of The Reader Over Your Shoulder, by Robert Graves
and Alan Hodge, because it lends itself to exercises that enable the
reader/worker of the exercises to really learn the skills of revising (which
is where what is written gets much, much better).

I have a post that describes the routine, but basically it's this: about 1/4
the book is dedicated to a history of English prose style, with many
examples. Then about 1/4 consists of the rules that good writing obeys, with
many examples of actual published prose that breaks the rules and becomes,
on analysis, unintelligible. The final half of the book consists of passages
from a great many writers, all pasasges from published writing, with Graves
and Hodge carefully marking every violation of the rules and explaining the
problem that each violation causes, and then their rewriting the passage.

My proposal is that you take each passage (without comments) and try for
yourself to spot the rule violations and, after about 20-30 minutes of
effort, rewriting the passage. Only then do you look at what Graves and
Hodges found in the passage. Your mind, prepared by your own efforts, will
then actually absorb what they say and internalize it.

At http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2006/11/11/robe...
you'll find the process described more clearly and also a link so you can
download the example passages in PDF form for you to mark up.

Michael Ham
Monterey CA
http://leisureguy.wordpress.com
.

]]> By: tomcolvin http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175089 tomcolvin Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:27:18 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175089 Aninaction -- what an intriguing choice of books. Yes, not the expected<br>choices, but provocative and worth looking into. Aninaction — what an intriguing choice of books. Yes, not the expected
choices, but provocative and worth looking into.

]]> By: tomcolvin http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175091 tomcolvin Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:24:12 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175091 Your list at The Writer Today is excellent. Thanks for sharing. Your list at The Writer Today is excellent. Thanks for sharing.

]]> By: tomcolvin http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175087 tomcolvin Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:23:17 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175087 Ashish, thanks. I know ON WRITING and agree with you. Don´t know BOOK OF<br>DAYS, will look into it. Ashish, thanks. I know ON WRITING and agree with you. Don´t know BOOK OF
DAYS, will look into it.

]]> By: avr http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175090 avr Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:45:50 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175090 I have a few books on the craft of writing that I recommend. You can check out the list on my blog: <a href="http://www.thewritertoday.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">www.thewritertoday.blogspot.com</a>. I took a writing class and the teacher recommended a few of the ones on the list. Specifically, "Writing Down The Bones" by Natalie Goldberg, "The Artist Way" by Julia Cameron, and "Bird by Bird" by Ann Lamotte. These all focus on getting you to come out of your shell and get your creativity flowing so you can get down to the business of writing. I have a few books on the craft of writing that I recommend. You can check out the list on my blog: http://www.thewritertoday.blogspot.com. I took a writing class and the teacher recommended a few of the ones on the list. Specifically, “Writing Down The Bones” by Natalie Goldberg, “The Artist Way” by Julia Cameron, and “Bird by Bird” by Ann Lamotte. These all focus on getting you to come out of your shell and get your creativity flowing so you can get down to the business of writing.

]]> By: n. http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175088 n. Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:25:03 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175088 Though someone is likely to say "those arent books for writers", i cannot think of any book other than these two that are of the most help to writers, so for what its worth:<br><br>Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism<br>Nietzsche The Birth of Tragedy Though someone is likely to say “those arent books for writers”, i cannot think of any book other than these two that are of the most help to writers, so for what its worth:

Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism
Nietzsche The Birth of Tragedy

]]> By: Ashish http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/2008/12/30/books-for-writers-which-are-your-favorites/comment-page-1/#comment-175086 Ashish Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:28:29 +0000 http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/wordpress/?p=538#comment-175086 Of course there are no doubts "On Writing" is the most recommended book for most writers. I also found "The writer's book of days" to be inspirational especially to a beginner like myself. Its very easy to read and full of topics on the craft. Having read it I often find myself going back to it whenever I am low of confidence and need little inspiration. Highly recommended. Of course there are no doubts “On Writing” is the most recommended book for most writers. I also found “The writer's book of days” to be inspirational especially to a beginner like myself. Its very easy to read and full of topics on the craft. Having read it I often find myself going back to it whenever I am low of confidence and need little inspiration. Highly recommended.
Read more from Ashish

Who moved my cheese?

A

]]>