http://cluelessink.blogspot.com/2010/07/techniques-of-selling-writer-by-dwight.html
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Monday, October 5, 2015
Stoned to Death
I may be stoned to death for saying this but I think 'how to write fiction' books are worse than useless. It sets otherwise good to fair writers feet on the wrong paths.
I've spent time this summer running refresher courses for David's sock puppet stable on sentence structure and building paragraphs. Bought internet content requires a minimum level of quality control.
He thought hiring writers would be a great idea, however these are fanfic writers who can discourse character development, plot construction, and other abstractions of the art of writing and know bugger all about the nuts and bolts of grammar and composition. In fact they consider such practical knowledge the nitpicking of little minds.
Almost all my remedial efforts consisted of composition basics: sentence variety, paragraphing, with transitions and signpost, and scene structure, which is similar to paragraph structure. Most of the problems could have been done away with if the writers had read the following;
Writing the Perfect Scene. A streamlined take on Swain's classic 'scene and sequel'.
Purdue's Online Writing Lab. Yes, academic writing; the basics are there, concise and accessible.
Also the mechanically inclined books:
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
The Lively Art of Writing by Lucile Vaughan Payne
Thinking on Paper by V.a. Howard and J.H. Barton
Yes all three deal with essay writing; practical concerns to get words on paper with unity and clarity.
To concede the need for 'how to write fiction', I include the three most cynical books on fiction writing ever. Airy fairy abstractions need not apply.
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain
How to Write a Damn Good Novel 1 & 2 by James N. Frey
I've spent time this summer running refresher courses for David's sock puppet stable on sentence structure and building paragraphs. Bought internet content requires a minimum level of quality control.
He thought hiring writers would be a great idea, however these are fanfic writers who can discourse character development, plot construction, and other abstractions of the art of writing and know bugger all about the nuts and bolts of grammar and composition. In fact they consider such practical knowledge the nitpicking of little minds.
Almost all my remedial efforts consisted of composition basics: sentence variety, paragraphing, with transitions and signpost, and scene structure, which is similar to paragraph structure. Most of the problems could have been done away with if the writers had read the following;
Writing the Perfect Scene. A streamlined take on Swain's classic 'scene and sequel'.
Purdue's Online Writing Lab. Yes, academic writing; the basics are there, concise and accessible.
Also the mechanically inclined books:
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
The Lively Art of Writing by Lucile Vaughan Payne
Thinking on Paper by V.a. Howard and J.H. Barton
Yes all three deal with essay writing; practical concerns to get words on paper with unity and clarity.
To concede the need for 'how to write fiction', I include the three most cynical books on fiction writing ever. Airy fairy abstractions need not apply.
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain
How to Write a Damn Good Novel 1 & 2 by James N. Frey
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