Books and Advice About Writing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Writing can be an intimidating action - it certainly is for me. There's also no shortage of books that try to tell you how to write, but I don't think all of them convey it with the same level. Now I've made no serious attempt at writing, so it's not like I want it for myself, but as a collaborative exercise, I want to see if anyone has any recommendations for books and advice published on the craft. I actually have a few of them myself. My personal library includes:

-Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande
-Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
-The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes
-How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method by Viki King
-The Successful Novelist: A Life time of Lessons About Writing and Publishing by David Morrell
-On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

To be honest, the only one I've read cover to cover is King's On Writing, but I can definitely say that it's one of the quintessential books on the subject. Even if you already know how to write, I highly recommend picking it up. I think I got halfway through Bradbury's book, but just because I set it down doesn't mean it's not good - rather, it's essential, because it's about the love of writing. I think it was from that book that Brande's Becoming a Writer was introduced to me, so I have high hopes for it, as it's been in print since 1934 and comes highly recommended for practicing writers.

Some other books I know of that I would like to pick up are:

-The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
-Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Mariner and the Mutinous Crew by Ursula K. Le Guin
-The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
-The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White
-On Moral Fiction by John Gardner
-On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
-The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers by John Gardner
-Aspects of the Novel by E. M. Forster
-The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera
-The Eye of the Story: Selected Essays and Reviews by Eudora Welty
-One Writer's Beginnings by Eudora Welty
-Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
-The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker
-Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
-Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose

This is quite a list, but it's not exhaustive. Does anyone have any suggestions? Does anyone have a favorite book on writing that they would like to add? What's been the most helpful to you with writing? What actually gets you through the work?

I realize that there's no one magic book that can transform you into a writer overnight, but I'm willing to cast my own net far and wide for the best advice on the subject, so for anyone interested, let me know. And if you have your own personal advice for writing, share it here if you want. I'd love to hear it, as a socialization experiment and not just for my own benefit.

[Raven]

Bird by Bird I have read, and I have some other ones, but almost all of my books are in boxes right now and I can't come up with any by name.

I do remember some things one of my creative writing professors said to me, though.
"Put your characters up a tree and throw rocks at them." I.e., your characters shouldn't have too easy of a time.
"Figure out what your character wants and don't give it to them."
"'The king died; then the queen died,' are events.' 'The king died and the queen died of sadness' is a plot."