Post by Tillian Panthesis on May 24, 2009 14:46:52 GMT 1
I'm feeling tempted to put this one up after I've made a list on another website. Since most of us are writers here, I've kinda wanted to add this here so anyone who wanted to explore more depth into their craft can freely take a look. I'll be adding more of this later on if I can find more books and websites about this. So what do you think about this list? Should I shut up and do my work or continue picking up good references for everyone here? I hope I didn't offend you guys here...
General Writing Technique Books
How Not to Write a Novel - Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmen
Exactly says what's on the tin. It's basically teaches you how to not to write like a retard like Stephanie Meyer and other horrid authors that should be shot in the head and also how to get your book publish with much more ease. While the book aims to teach writers to get their act together in writing, it has a humorous overtone that is both entertaining and informative at the same time. Highly recommended for writers who wanted to become full time professionals.
The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and design - Flint Dille and John Zuur Platten
For those who wanted to break into the industry as a game writer or those who are might be interested in the gaming industry, this a good place to start. Not only it discuss the challenges of writing a medium that is required to be flexible for the sake of agency but also it has exercises and a professional game design document example for everyone to see as a taste of an idea of working in a games project.
Writing sci-fi and fantasy - Orson Scott Card
"Apparently this book teaches you writing for Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres which Daigoweed recommends it, which sounds good. Sadly I haven't got my grubby hands on it yet... so if you have any idea what the content of the book feel free to fill in so I can delete this crappy temporary synopsis and write a proper one."
Alan Moore's Writing For Comics
Although, as the title indicates, the essays are mostly on how to write for comic books, he also has a lot to say about the writing process itself; which will be helpful for any writer. Some of the best writing advice I've ever gotten out of a book. - Knightfall
www.amazon.com/Alan-Moores-Writin....43181961&sr=8-1
The 38 most common fiction writing mistakes - Jack M. Bickham
What it's exactly says on the tin. It's a very useful book about avoiding pitfalls, some of it is obvious things like not staying within character viewpoints and not getting overly verbose, but very useful to avoid general shitness that most wannabe authors tend to be stumbled upon nowdays. Daigoweed recommends it
Character Development
Breathing life into your characters - Rachel Ballon, Ph. D
Written by a professional psychotherapist who also work as a writing consultant for writers. It has a greater dept in reaching out the minds of your characters and getting in touch with their thoughts and feelings no matter what background or life experience with in them. Highly recommended if you want to make a believable character. Be wary though if you used the empathy technique from this book, as sometimes the creation can over ride the creator... as the philosophy from Frankenstein warns us, so watch yourself out and don't get too involved into your characters like Meyer did...
Better Game Character by Design - Katherine Isbister
For those who wanted to wanted to create memorable characters for your video games, you do worse than laying your hands on this book. Not only it goes though the detail methods of creating characters including detailed illustrations examples but also shows the writers unique challenges for the video game settings when creating new characters.
General links for writing techniques
Absolute write forums - www.absolutewrite.com/forums/
A good community where all authors from all walks of life come together to discuss and share their ideas, advice and techniques for writing. Good place to ask for some helpful advice and start making connections. Knightfall recommends it.
Mark Twain's Essay on "Fenimore Cooper's Literacy Offenses - www.pbs.org/marktwain/learnmore/writings_fenimore.html
100 years, Cooper released a novel that is on the equivalent as Ms. Meyer's Twilight in that era. Mark Twain was offended by her craptactular skills in her writing, so he written a VERY snarky essay piece about abiding to the rules of of writing a literature piece. Yes it's full of snark filled with a good dose of Twain's humour but he raised some VERY good points about it. Best to take a visit to this website if you don't want to make Twain rolling in his grave.
Dr. Merlin's guide to fan fiction - firefox.org/news/articles/650/1/Dr-Merlin039s-Guide-to-Fanfiction/Page1.html
While I was stumbling through the Wandering Critic's website, I've found this website and I've just remembered about reading this a few months back. Anyways, it's was written by a professional journalist who knows the tricks and the trades of writing a good fanfiction, as Dr. Merlin shares his/her experiance from writing it in the past. Good place to visit.
Limyaael's Rants - www.forresterlabs.com/limyaael/
Limyaael has good articles, detailing the pitfalls of bad fantasy (and other genres)... and how to avoid them.
There's a vast array of subjects to look at, but I think you'll find the author's guide extremely handy and amusing. Enjoy!
Recomended by Querona
So you want to write: See this index - tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/SeeTheIndex
Being a giant warehouse of tropes, it quite natural that TV Tropes have a list of tutorials on how to write certain genres. The list itself is still growing by the contributor, so I recommended to check it up more often. And tutorials itself were pretty handy too.
Writing Excuses - www.writingexcuses.com/
A Podcast series that discusses about writing. Topics vary, ranging from the basics down to writing for certain mediums like Video Games. Yes, it does teach you how to kill your Mary Sue (or also known as "Your Darlings") At this time of writing, they are up to season 5. Worth checking out.
How Not to Write a Webcomic - hownottorunacomic.keenspace.com/
Self-explainatory but very crucial for anyone who intends to write and post a webcomic in the near future. That goes double for anyone who plans to write a fan fic comic.
JosephBlakeParker's DA Page - josephblakeparker.deviantart.com/ *NEW*
A professional writer on DeviantArt who posted a lot of good resource tutorials on writing. His tutorials served me well so far, so feel free to check them when you can.
Links for General References and Research
Cacked.com 6 Sci-Fi movie conventions that needs to die - www.cracked.com/article_17392_6-sci-fi-movie-conventions-that-need-die.html
This one is a comedy article - but - it's a good list of pitfalls that all of us sci-fi writers have made. I winced more than once thinking, 'yeah, I've done that.'
Interesting points. Mr. Buch recommends it.
TV Tropes - tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes
A buttload lists with Tropes that are storytelling devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. Useful if your ideas run dry and also a good place for laugh or two with some of the horrid examples and commentary of the techniques for the narrative while cringing yourself for being an ass.
Be warned: It's very addicting to read through the Tropes, more addicting than WoW! So take care to read the website in moderation...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Writing Technique Books
How Not to Write a Novel - Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmen
Exactly says what's on the tin. It's basically teaches you how to not to write like a retard like Stephanie Meyer and other horrid authors that should be shot in the head and also how to get your book publish with much more ease. While the book aims to teach writers to get their act together in writing, it has a humorous overtone that is both entertaining and informative at the same time. Highly recommended for writers who wanted to become full time professionals.
The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and design - Flint Dille and John Zuur Platten
For those who wanted to break into the industry as a game writer or those who are might be interested in the gaming industry, this a good place to start. Not only it discuss the challenges of writing a medium that is required to be flexible for the sake of agency but also it has exercises and a professional game design document example for everyone to see as a taste of an idea of working in a games project.
Writing sci-fi and fantasy - Orson Scott Card
"Apparently this book teaches you writing for Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres which Daigoweed recommends it, which sounds good. Sadly I haven't got my grubby hands on it yet... so if you have any idea what the content of the book feel free to fill in so I can delete this crappy temporary synopsis and write a proper one."
Alan Moore's Writing For Comics
Although, as the title indicates, the essays are mostly on how to write for comic books, he also has a lot to say about the writing process itself; which will be helpful for any writer. Some of the best writing advice I've ever gotten out of a book. - Knightfall
www.amazon.com/Alan-Moores-Writin....43181961&sr=8-1
The 38 most common fiction writing mistakes - Jack M. Bickham
What it's exactly says on the tin. It's a very useful book about avoiding pitfalls, some of it is obvious things like not staying within character viewpoints and not getting overly verbose, but very useful to avoid general shitness that most wannabe authors tend to be stumbled upon nowdays. Daigoweed recommends it
Character Development
Breathing life into your characters - Rachel Ballon, Ph. D
Written by a professional psychotherapist who also work as a writing consultant for writers. It has a greater dept in reaching out the minds of your characters and getting in touch with their thoughts and feelings no matter what background or life experience with in them. Highly recommended if you want to make a believable character. Be wary though if you used the empathy technique from this book, as sometimes the creation can over ride the creator... as the philosophy from Frankenstein warns us, so watch yourself out and don't get too involved into your characters like Meyer did...
Better Game Character by Design - Katherine Isbister
For those who wanted to wanted to create memorable characters for your video games, you do worse than laying your hands on this book. Not only it goes though the detail methods of creating characters including detailed illustrations examples but also shows the writers unique challenges for the video game settings when creating new characters.
General links for writing techniques
Absolute write forums - www.absolutewrite.com/forums/
A good community where all authors from all walks of life come together to discuss and share their ideas, advice and techniques for writing. Good place to ask for some helpful advice and start making connections. Knightfall recommends it.
Mark Twain's Essay on "Fenimore Cooper's Literacy Offenses - www.pbs.org/marktwain/learnmore/writings_fenimore.html
100 years, Cooper released a novel that is on the equivalent as Ms. Meyer's Twilight in that era. Mark Twain was offended by her craptactular skills in her writing, so he written a VERY snarky essay piece about abiding to the rules of of writing a literature piece. Yes it's full of snark filled with a good dose of Twain's humour but he raised some VERY good points about it. Best to take a visit to this website if you don't want to make Twain rolling in his grave.
Dr. Merlin's guide to fan fiction - firefox.org/news/articles/650/1/Dr-Merlin039s-Guide-to-Fanfiction/Page1.html
While I was stumbling through the Wandering Critic's website, I've found this website and I've just remembered about reading this a few months back. Anyways, it's was written by a professional journalist who knows the tricks and the trades of writing a good fanfiction, as Dr. Merlin shares his/her experiance from writing it in the past. Good place to visit.
Limyaael's Rants - www.forresterlabs.com/limyaael/
Limyaael has good articles, detailing the pitfalls of bad fantasy (and other genres)... and how to avoid them.
There's a vast array of subjects to look at, but I think you'll find the author's guide extremely handy and amusing. Enjoy!
Recomended by Querona
So you want to write: See this index - tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/SeeTheIndex
Being a giant warehouse of tropes, it quite natural that TV Tropes have a list of tutorials on how to write certain genres. The list itself is still growing by the contributor, so I recommended to check it up more often. And tutorials itself were pretty handy too.
Writing Excuses - www.writingexcuses.com/
A Podcast series that discusses about writing. Topics vary, ranging from the basics down to writing for certain mediums like Video Games. Yes, it does teach you how to kill your Mary Sue (or also known as "Your Darlings") At this time of writing, they are up to season 5. Worth checking out.
How Not to Write a Webcomic - hownottorunacomic.keenspace.com/
Self-explainatory but very crucial for anyone who intends to write and post a webcomic in the near future. That goes double for anyone who plans to write a fan fic comic.
JosephBlakeParker's DA Page - josephblakeparker.deviantart.com/ *NEW*
A professional writer on DeviantArt who posted a lot of good resource tutorials on writing. His tutorials served me well so far, so feel free to check them when you can.
Links for General References and Research
Cacked.com 6 Sci-Fi movie conventions that needs to die - www.cracked.com/article_17392_6-sci-fi-movie-conventions-that-need-die.html
This one is a comedy article - but - it's a good list of pitfalls that all of us sci-fi writers have made. I winced more than once thinking, 'yeah, I've done that.'
Interesting points. Mr. Buch recommends it.
TV Tropes - tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes
A buttload lists with Tropes that are storytelling devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. Useful if your ideas run dry and also a good place for laugh or two with some of the horrid examples and commentary of the techniques for the narrative while cringing yourself for being an ass.
Be warned: It's very addicting to read through the Tropes, more addicting than WoW! So take care to read the website in moderation...