Writer's Bane

2020-04-26

That's right, it's a post about writing advice.

Not from me! Goodness, no.

Instead, here's a compendium of books and other odd bits that I've found helpful in my quest. I'll keep this updated when I encounter something new and useful and surprising.

I hope this guide proves useful when you're looking to read about how to write instead of just sitting down and doing the deed.

Books

• Story Genius - Lisa Cron: Learn how to write a riveting story using brain science - make sure to bring a pen and a notebook along for the ride!

• On Writing - Stephen King: King's biographical guidebook to his craft.

• Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott: The best advice you'll get about life and writing.

• Zen in the Art of Writing - Ray Bradbury: How to delight in the joy of BEING ALIVE and also write about it.

• Draft No. 4 - John McPhee: The master of creative nonfiction gives you a glimpse behind the curtain, and it's mostly 3x5 note cards and some strange vintage word processing software.

• The Elements of Style - Strunk and White: Don't throw this out after high school English. It's tiny. Keep it in the bathroom. Don't tell anyone.

Podcasts

• Ask the Bards - Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne: A weekly Twitter Q+A with best buddies and writing partners. You'll want to be friends with them.

• Launch - John August: What happens when a famous screenwriter and podcaster decides to write a middle grade children's novel called Arlo Finch? He records a charmed six-part podcast about the process of finding an agent, signing a deal, editing, visiting the book-binding factory, and then going on book-tour.

• Scriptnotes - John August and Craig Mazin: "A podcast about screenwriting and things that are interesting to screenwriters." This isn't exactly about writing books, but who cares. It's my favorite weekly podcast about an industry I don't work in. And also, "One Cool Thing."

Articles

• 25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition - Delilah S. Dawson: If you're looking for a hilarious and possibly NSFW roadmap to seeing your book in an airport bookstore, look no further.

Newsletters

• The Perils of the Overworld - Robin Sloan: What happens when an engineer-author-olive-oil-maker makes a video game? He's not sure either.

"Write, you fools!" he cried, and was gone.