7 Must-Have Writing Craft Books

With Marilyn Forsyth

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Writers all have a favourite craft book (or two, or ten *grin*) that has helped us along our journey towards publication. Here are the faves of the Breathless group.


Cassandra

The book I've chosen is The Mental Game of Writing by James Scott Bell.

Writing is a mental game (goodness knows my muse often refuses to play fair) but Bell breaks it down into manageable chapters, covering topics such as Burn Out, Stress, Inspiration, Speed, Envy, and many more. He gives some great advice and warns of the many pitfalls a writer can fall into. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and will refer to it when necessary.










Enisa

If you are a perfectionist writer (I’ll admit to being one of those), always editing and re-editing in search of the perfect word/s, and you want to break out of that never-ending cycle I recommend this reference book to teach you how to silence your inner critic and let your muse embrace creativity so you can get on and write the book!

Inspired Writer: How to Create Magic with Your Words by Bryan Hutchinson reveals in an easy-to-read format how to embrace your creative side and embrace it with a passion that will not let you go as you write. Wonderful, helpful advice.

Dee

Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete Guide to Turning Story Concepts into Movie and Television Deals by Michael Hauge is my favourite writing craft book. Even though this book is written for the screenwriter, it works for writers in all genres. In it, Hauge (screenwriter of some of the best Hollywood movies of all time) details not only how to develop your story but also how to emote it, make it believable, and how to make viewers/readers absolutely love it! His 3 act structure makes it all so simple. Check out his website Story Mastery for more tips and tools.


Michael’s website: http://www.storymastery.com/




Sharon

The Art of Romance Writing by Valerie Parv is my favourite "how to" book. Valerie begins with a spirited defence of Romantic Novels then goes on to summarise some of the diversity within the genre. Her clear, articulate, engaging writing style enables her to impart important information while empowering her readers.

Miranda


I love Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant. She manages to make everything seem simple and clear about romance writing, and gives excellent suggestions and tips. This one was published some years ago, but it still resonates with me. She gives examples from her own work that illustrate every point. She talks about everything from planning your book to selling it, and also explains the romantic sub-genres. Everything here to make a start, then continue on writing to fulfil your dreams!

Karen

I like Editing Made Easy by Bruce Kaplan.
This book is a practical guide for writers and editors. It explains adjectives, turning nouns into verbs, words to avoid, how to avoid word confusion, punctuation, plural traps, getting to the point, and also gives an editing checklist for when polishing your manuscript. English classes were a while ago so this book serves me in that it is a reminder of the basic rules of writing.



Marilyn 

Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook is a brilliant writing course in a book. He covers Character Development, Plot Development and General Story Techniques with a stimulating exercise at the end of each chapter. I particularly like his 22 steps to create a book outline. It’s suitable for writers with either a work-in-progress or a completed manuscript. (PS: Although it’s an adjunct to Writing the Breakout Novel, you don’t need to have read it to gain from the workbook.)



Do you have a favourite writing craft book? At Breathless we're always on the lookout for great books to add to our professional library so please feel free to add your favourite craft book in a comment.

Love to Love receiving my first sales statement from Harlequin MIRA. HUGE thanks to all my lovely readers!

Love to Laugh at Halloween creativity.

Love to Learn about Making Facebook My Friend with Sarah Hood (an RWAus OWL course). Sarah has a wealth of knowledge about marketing and the course was very helpful. Follow this link to her website http://www.marketing4writers.net

New Year's Resolutions (or better yet: Commitments!) for Writers in 2016

with Enisa Haines

Time sure flies fast, 2015 will soon end. Will you look back over the months passed and wonder what you have achieved as a writer? Will you think about what you want to do in the year ahead? Thinking is great, but to attain success with publication you have to act on your wish, set your actions into motion, As 2016 begins and you call out "Happy New Year", tell yourself, I resolve to:

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1. Find the time to write and keep to it. Over a 24-hour day we work in paying jobs, take care of family, do household chores, catch up with friends, pursue personal interests and finally sleep to refresh for the next day. We all have these obligations but many of us also have some spare time to do as we wish. Devote that time to writing, not to Facebook or Twitter or episodes of your favourite TV show, and be disciplined about it. Use the time to settle on a plot, a setting, the characters' motivations, goals and conflicts, and then write. You'll be glad you did. If you have just one free hour in the day and you write 500 words, in a month you'll have written 15,000 words, and in just six months a novel-length 90,000 words. That's a full first draft you can then polish to submission standard.

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2. Write in the way you are comfortable with. Are you a Plotter, your story organised before you begin to write and editing is minimal? Are you a Pantser, more free with your creativity? Are you another type of writer, perhaps a Scener like me, visualising scenes out of order and putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle? However you write, however the words come easiest to you, keep doing it that way. It's the way you write best.




3. Hone your craft. Study how-to-write books. Read the books of the  authors you admire and discover what it is about their writing that makes them a success. Attend seminars and conferences, network with authors and editors and agents and learn how they work.Your writing will grow and be better for it.

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4. Stop procrastinating. Are you playing computer games or checking your phone for messages or emails? Are you rearranging the contents of your kitchen cupboards? Are you searching for things to do because you doubt your writing self and can't bear to stare at a computer screen blank of words? Writing is often scary and hard to do, but if you really, really, really want to be published you have to sit down in front of that screen and fill it with a word, a paragraph, a chapter, and a full novel will form. An achievement you can be proud of.

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5. Revise your writing as you write. Your writing will slow down as you rework the plot or fix the pacing and POV errors, but, as James Scott Bell reveals in Revision and Self-Editing for Publication, 2nd Edition, you will end up with a cleaner first draft that needs far less revision.










6. Do something different if your writing has stalled and and you're stuck. Is a plot-point problematic? Are you writing a scene in a point-of-view that's not moving the story forward? Is the mid-point of your story sagging? Are you stagnated with your writing? Brainstorm with critique partners. Change the character POV. Add new scenes filled with tension-inducing action. Reignite your creativity by writing in a new genre.

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7. Promote yourself and your writing. Social media is vital for success today so if you want to make yourself known as a writer set up a Facebook page, open a Google+ account, organise a website, join Twitter and engage regularly with your followers.

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8. Write from the heart. Is your writing distanced, told with little emotion? Reveal your own fears and tears and joys in the words you write and readers will laugh and cry with the characters from page one to the end,

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9. Say to yourself, "I am a writer!" You may not yet be published but you write. You write because writing is an intrinsic part of you. It is hard. At times it's so hard you wonder if the effort is worth it or if you'll ever get it right, but if you focus on the end reward, that vision of your book published, the frustrations and tears and the pressure you put on yourself are so, so worth it!



I have a dream. I am a writer but I want to be a published writer. The resolutions I've talked about are mine. I will act on every one of them every day of 2016 because they will help bring my dream within reach and I really, really, really want my dream to be reality.

What about you? Will you make resolutions this coming New Year? Will you commit to them and make them happen? I wish you joy through the coming holiday season and a Happy New Year but above all, I hope your dreams will come true, too.

Love to love - my motto: Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

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Love to laugh - with my critique partners as we thrash our stories into shape!

Love to learn - A dream remains a dream if I don't do anything to make it real.