Comments on: Books, Books and More Books

By: Stephanie Shackelford

Stephanie Shackelford — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:56:03 +0000

I’ve seen that book. It had lots of good info in it. It is good. I also find that personality-type books are helpful in developing/understanding my characters. I especially find anything that expounds on the Myer-Briggs tests helpful. I’ve internalized a lot of that information and don’t remember offhand specific titles. I’ll have to go check my shelves.

By: Stormy

Stormy — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:14:52 +0000

One book that I can’t put down right now is 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. I’ve been working on the second draft of my NaNo novel and it has been unbelievably helpful in finding a way to understand my characters.

By: Stephanie Shackelford

Stephanie Shackelford — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:44:23 +0000

Another book (sort of) is the Writer’s Brainstorming Kit (I think that is the name). Maybe Kitty will mention it. I don’t have a copy, but it is on my wish list and will probably be my next writing-related purchase. I’ve looked at hers and even used it to generate some ideas for stories. Once I’ve gotten it and used in a few more times, I’ll write more about it.

By: Stephanie Shackelford

Stephanie Shackelford — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:42:18 +0000

You are sooooo right. If I go for too long without reading fiction, i just dry up. The writing gets stale, I lose all desire to write and it all becomes a chore. I recently relearned this and am now devouring lots of fun reading and rediscovering my “want-to” for creating fiction.

I haven’t read GMC, although I have glanced through a friend’s copy (Kitty’s I think) and took a class that was built on it.

By: Erica Vetsch

Erica Vetsch — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:35:09 +0000

Plot and Structure by JSB for sure. Also Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon. Those two books have done more for me than any other writing books.

But reading great fiction also helps. Finding out what the best in the business do, then applying that to my writing has allowed me to make great strides.