My Favorite: Books on Writing

 Since I've been writing fiction for almost thirty years, I've read a lot of how-to books. Some were drier than dust, some I couldn't get into. But some had such an effect on me that I reread them. As with all my favorites, I can't choose just one favorite book on writing. Each book I've read offers something different. It's wonderful to have so many options. What one person gets (or remembers) from each book depends on their needs. Here are three that I found most helpful.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is the first book I read that made an impression. The title came from advice her father gave to her brother who had procrastinated writing a school assignment on birds, and it was the night before the assignment was due. Her dad said to take it bird by bird. Sounds simple, right?

When you have a big project, like writing an 80,000 word novel, it can be overwhelming. Taking it apart, breaking the project into smaller units can feel doable. I think about this advice whenever I have a task that's overwhelming, and it helps.

I learned about GMC: Goal, Motivation, & Conflict by Debra Dixon when she gave a program at my local RWA chapter's annual retreat. Goal, Motivation, and Conflict are the backbone of a novel. Once you understand the GMC of your main character(s), the story will become easier to write. I've seen this same formula written different ways. Ms. Dixon's take and subsequent examples using popular movies made this concept understandable for me. For each story, I make up a GMC chart for all the main characters, including the villain.

The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers by Christopher Vogler uses Joseph Campbell's work on ancient myths. Vogler gives writers instructions using (again) popular movies as examples. Since I'm such a fan of Star Wars, I was thrilled that the first movie he uses is Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Everything clicked into place for me. Now, I make up the step-by-step journey for each of my books.

Since I've told you I make up these charts, you might think I do them before I start writing. I don't. I'm sort of a pantzer. An idea for a story, first scene mainly, pops in my head and I start writing. No idea who these characters are or what they want or what they're going to do. But eventually (here's where I stop being a pantzer) I hit a wall. I have to stop writing and figure things out. Where is my story going? Who are these people? That's when I have to find out more about the character (his/her GMC) and the essence of the story (their journey). This structure makes so much sense to me that I "see" it in movies.

There are many more books for writers that I haven't read. If you have a favorite, please share in the comments.