Everyone had a short reading list for me so I hit the "used" section of Amazon and completed my shopping list for a mere song or two.
It's quite interesting that most of these books aren't a lot more expansive than the instruction booklet that comes (recipes included) with a new crockpot. Except for King and Lamott, who have fleshed out their instruction with very readable autobiographical stuff, everyone else seems to have taken their own advice and cut to the chase...less and less is more.
Since I've been writing for a while for my own entertainment I don't know how much or if I will take any of this sage wisdom to heart. One or two not shown here would be best mulched in a blender with fruit juice and taken as extra fiber...like eating shredded wheat dry.
The hardest part for me? Every frickin' thing is in Black & White! My eyes are parched for color.
7 comments:
OOOOOOHHHHH...that last image.
I agree with Deanna, fab, fab fabric.
They tell you to pare down the writing to the core but remember when reading JD Salinger the best parts were the lists of things in a medicine cabinet. It told you all about the family without telling you bout the family! Franny and Zooey I think.
That looks like a very interesting reading list... maybe your novel could have some colour pictures in it :-)
Go with your gut... I can tell you my fave author, who blessedly was also prolific, is Louis L'Amour. He's my fave because he paints a picture with words, and I can enter that picture every time I open up one of his books. I felt that way when I read the piece you posted about yourself awhile back. Crawled right in with you and yearned for more! That's my yardstick for measuring the worth of a writer...
Have you read Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones? See if your local public library has it if you haven't read it; it will be time well spent. PJ
I've been read Stephen King's On Writing. Interesting. And I totally agree about Louis L'Amour...I've read almost every book (back in my youth)...they connected me to the land in a very strong way.
Post a Comment