bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 ::

Recommended reading for writers
Karen at Beyond has compiled a short list of good books about writing. Her list includes On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, a choice with which I concur. (Heh. How's that for good grammar?) I haven't seen my copy of Zinsser's book for a couple of years. I think I lent it to some would-be writer. I suppose I should purchase a new copy.

Karen has some other good choices (and a link to this great online style guide). Not that she asked, but I would add a few more texts to the list:

Words Fail Me, by Patricia T. O'Conner. (See this entry for more about this book.)

Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, who is my favorite Jewish Buddhist who writes about writing. This book is easy to read because it has short chapters and some interesting writing exercises and is designed to be opened at random. It also throws in some Zen Buddhism for good measure. I learned a lot about doing Zazen from Goldberg's book. (Fear not, fellow Christians. This book did not cause me to abandon the faith. Rather, it strengthened me in some places that were in need of reinforcement.) My copy of this book is also out on loan to another would-be writer, who works in a cubicle just outside my office door. (Lucky me; I have a corner office with a door.)

If You Want to Write, by Brenda Ueland. This is a great book that, like Goldberg's, looks at the spiritual aspects of writing. Originally published in the 1930s, the writing is still fresh today. (Or at least it was six or seven years ago, which is when I gave away my copy of this book to yet another would-be writer. I am forever giving away and lending out all of these good books about writing.)

If any of these books sound appealing to you, then please go to my Amazon.com affiliate bookstore and order them so I can get a kickback and maybe purchase some new copies for my greedy little self.

:: Andrew 10:39 + ::
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