Well Pilgrim, Write!: September 2010

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Techniques of a Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain

Today I finished Techniques of a Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain. (1965)

I bought and read the book because I was intrigued by Motivation-Response-Units mentioned by blogger Randy Ingermanson in his blog Advanced Fiction Writing. A concept which Ingermanson credited to Swain.

If a how-to-write book written in 1965 is still in print, it has something useful to say.

This book does in spades. Ninety percent of my copy's pages are highlighted, underlined, or both. I give it four stars.

My Reference Shelf

Block, Lawrence, Spider Spin Me A Web (1988) [2 Stars]
Block, Lawrence, Telling Lies for Fun and Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers (1981) [2 Stars]
Block, Lawrence, Writing the Novel - From Plot to Print (1979) [2 Stars]
Bradbury, Ray, Zen in the Art of Writing (1990) [2 Stars]
Brooks, Larry, Story Structure - Demystified (2009) [5 Stars]
Brooks, Larry, Three Dimensions of Character, Going Deep and Wide to Create Compelling Heroes and Villains (2010)
Cowden, Tami D., Caro LaFever and Sue Viders, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines - Sixteen Master Archetypes (2000)
Davis, J. Madison, Novelist's Essential Guide to Creating Plot (2000)
Ephron, Hallie, Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'Em Dead With Style (2005)
Field, Syd, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (2005)
Frey, James N., How to Write a Damn Good Mystery (2004)
Frey, James N., How to Write a Damn Good Novel (1987) [4 Stars]
Frey, James N., How to Write a Damn Good Novel II (1994)
Frey, James N., How to Write a Damn Good Thriller (2010)
Frey, James N., The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth (2000)
Grafton, Sue, ed., Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America (2002)
Hicks, Neill D, Writing the Thriller, The Terror Within Film (2002) [2 Stars]
Highsmith, Patricia, Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction (1983)
Hirschbert, Jeffrey, Reflections of the Shadow, Creating Memorable Heroes and Villains for Film and TV(2009)
King, Steven, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) [3 Stars]
King, Viki, How to Write a Movie in 21 Days, The Inner Movie Method (2001)
Leder, Meg, Jack Heffron, ed., and the Editors of Writer's Digest, The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing (2002) [2 Stars]
Maass, Donald, Writing the Breakout Novel (2001) [3 Stars]
Rittenberg, Ann and Laura Witcomb, Your First Novel (2006) [3 Stars]
Skillman, T. Macdonald, Writing the Thriller (2000)
Snyder, Blake, Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies, The Screenwriter's Guide to Every Story Ever Told (2007) [5 Stars]
Snyder, Blake, Save The Cat!, The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need (2005) [5 Stars]
Stanek, Lou Willett, So You Want to Write a Novel (1994) [2 Stars]
Strunk, William and E. B. White, Elements of Style (1959,2000)
Tapply, William G., The Elements of Mystery Fiction: Writing the Modern Whodunit (1995)
Wheat, Carolyn, How to Write Killer Fiction, The Funhouse of Mystery & The Roller Coaster of Suspense (2003) [4 Stars]

Well Pilgrim, Write!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Techniques of a Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker

Thursday, September 9, 2010

First Daughter by Eric Van Lustbader

Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Assassin by Stephen Coonts