Book Review Friday: This Year You Write Your Novel

This Year You Write Your Novel
By Walter Mosley

This is a short, pithy book offering the author's insights into how a first time novelist can get a story from idea to draft to polished novel in one year.  Accomplished novelist, Walter Mosley, offers advice, encouragement, practical exercises, and a kick in the pants to would be novelists who want to know how to get their words on paper.

For more great how to write your novel advice check out the 808.3 section of your local public library or try:

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Beyond the First Draft: The Art of Fiction by John Casey

Walter Mosley has published over 37 novels.  For some of his work try:
The Easy Rawlins Series
The Socrates Fortlow Series
The Fearless Jones Series
The Leonid McGill Series

Stand-alone novels include:
Odyssey
The Further Tales of Tempest Landry
Inside a Silver Box

Favorite Things: Purdue OWL

One of my favorite go-to resources is the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.  The Purdue OWL site has info on general writing, research and citations, ESL, subject specific writing issues, and much more.  Have a student with a writing question?  Check out OWL.

Book Review Friday: The Art of War for Writers

 

The Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises by James Scott Bell is a small, to the point guide for novelists.  Bell is an accomplished author of several novels as well as writer how-to books.  In this book he uses short chapters to highlight various points he considers necessary for writers to improve their craft.  He quotes liberally from Sun Tzu's classic strategy book The Art of War (in the library catalog the author attribution is "sunzi, active 5th century B. C.), applying those principles to the art of putting words on paper.  He also quotes liberally from Stephen King's On Writing. 

Bell's book is pocket sized, the chapters are short and each contains a pithy nugget of wisdom that writers can use to their benefit.  There are exercises for practicing the craft, strategies for overcoming writer's block, and tips and tricks that only a veteran writer can share with the novice.  An excellent guide book.  A perfect gift for the writer in your life.

Need more help getting that novel started or finished?  Try these:

On Writing by Stephen King
A Writer's Guide to Characterization: Archetypes, Heroic Journeys, and Other Elements of Dynamic Character Development by Victoria Lynn Schmidt
Story Engineering: Mastering the Six Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks
Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Nancy Kress
Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing by Elmore Leonard
Writer's Workshop in a Book: The Squaw Valley Community of Writers on the Art of Fiction

More books by James Scott Bell:

Revision and Self-Editing for Publication: Techniques for Transforming Your First Draft into a Novel
Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from Start to Finish

Blind Justice: A Novel
City of Angels
Angels Flight
Angel of Mercy
Deadlock
A Greater Glory
A Higher Justice
Presumed Guilty
The Whole Truth
Don't Leave Me

Getting past Writer's Block

It's not only me!

Here's a link to a blog post with 10 straightforward tips to overcome writer's block.

My personal favorite tip for getting over writer's block is to stop feeling sorry for myself, sit down, and write.  For me "writer's block" is just my excuse for not getting the job done.  It's my literary Camille dying on the divan moment.  So check out these tips or give yourself a good shake.  And then get that, pen, pencil, or keyboard moving ... that novel, memo, or blog post isn't going to write itself, you know!!