Writing a novel – part 2
Hello! In part one of blogging about writing my novel I told you all about my routine. Tonight I’m going to tell you about some of the books which have helped me write it.
I’m going to link to the books in this post on Amazon: I’m afraid they’re affiliate links. You pay no extra; I’d recommend these books regardless of the affiliate linking; and I have to pay for hosting. But if you’d rather buy them from elsewhere, I’d heartily recommend your local independent bookshop.
On Writing – Stephen King
Whether you read Stephen King’s novels or not, this is an excellent book on the process of writing. Part biography, part instructional manual, former English teacher King takes you through the basics of the novel writing process – and has enough anecdotes to help you feel like you’re not the only one who gets writer’s block/can’t find the time/gets run over by a car. He also tells you a few things to avoid – getting run over being one of them, and an addiction to alcohol being the other. Not all the advice is quite so big-picture, though: there are a lot of the basic principles of story structure, grammar and the process of writing explained. It’s very good.
Why I Write & Books V. Cigarettes – George Orwell
These are lovely little books from the Penguin Great Ideas range (it’s well worth collecting the set). Beautiful covers, handy pocket sizes, and these two collections of essays contain some of the most useful bits of writing an aspiring novelist could read; “Books V Cigarettes” justifies all those book purchases and makes you feel virtuous (unless you smoke as well); “Politics and the English Language” is vital reading for anyone who writes (and I think should be made compulsory reading for all my clients!); and “Why I Write” makes you feel a little less alone. It’s a bit political in places – well, it is George Orwell – but some great writing and made the rest of Orwell a little more accessible to me. After these I devoured his full books.
Buy Penguin Great Ideas : Why I Write
Buy Books v. Cigarettes (Penguin Great Ideas)
The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell
If you’re writing genre fiction – in particular sci-fi (and you love Star Wars) this is absolutely vital reading. Even if you’re writing something “literary” it’s pretty useful, explaining plot structure from ancient Greek and Roman stories to the modern day – and how they all share common elements. I think you can interpret just about any story to fit these elements, rather than them all conciously containing the archetypes described, but it does make for interesting reading – and a perfect match for stories like Star Wars. Having just a little knowledge of this approach can help you when you’re re-reading your story to ensure that the plot hangs together as expected.
Buy The Hero with a Thousand Faces
The Elements of Style – Strunk & White
This might be a little contentious, but bear with me. This is a book on grammar and style; I’d say it’s vital reading for any copy writer, especially any web writer, but novelists might not like it. I, personally, love it: Strunk gets as wound up about grammar as I do but does so with a lot more humour. I have a beautifully bound hard-cover copy with illustrations, but the link below will take you to a nice practical paperback.
You might wonder what use this is to a novelist; after all, you love your long flowery sentences and grammar is just restrictive, right? Well, maybe; but in order to break the rules properly it’s best to understand them first. Regardless, if you have a love for words and language, this book is just great.
The Freelance Writer’s Handbook
OK, so it’s not the most immediate choice for writers working on a novel, but it’s an incredibly useful book on making money from your writing. There is a section on writing novels in here – the main lesson being don’t forget your audience – but the sections on ghost writing and general freelancing are helpful too.
Buy The Freelance Writer’s Handbook: How to Make Money and Enjoy Your Life
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