Comments on: Hellie’s Favorite Craft Book (Not Involving Food): Getting in Touch with Her “Non-Existent” Emotions

By: Hellion

Hellion — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:23:27 +0000

Dee! You write great emotion–you make it seem easy. I explained a seminar at a conference I didn’t even attend? I’m trying to remember what Story Magic was about. *LOL* Probably the Hero’s Journey. Lord knows I love to go on and on about the hero’s journey. *LOL*

By: Hellion

Hellion — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:22:00 +0000

Hi Laura, thanks for coming by! And do come by and visit again! The crew writes great blogs…and well, we get off topic a lot so that’s fun as well.

By: Laura T

Laura T — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:20:39 +0000

I feel like I’ve been living under a rock. I love this site! Quantum.. I love Stephen King’s book on writing, too.

I also love your guidlines section on the site. It’s really motivating and it made me smile. You guys are a great resource!

By: Dee S. Knight

Dee S. Knight — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:14:30 +0000

I’m one who cries at the drop of a hat. But I still have to really think about giving my characters emotion. Dang it! It’s hard to remember everything.

I sat through the Story Magic session at Nationals and didn’t understand any of it until you talked to me last year. Of course, the double room was packed and they ran out of handouts, which might have had some effect. And then, last year I had the teacher all to myself…

Great blog! I love the knitting analogy–been there, done that.

By: terrio

terrio — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:32:07 +0000

At least I’ll be used to online learning by then. (If these last two classes don’t kill me.) And I already have the text books. Most of them. I’m picking up the Strunk & White book ASAP.

By: Hellion

Hellion — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:08:21 +0000

Janga & Marn (& Q)–yes, that Elements of Style (or any book that references about style) is probably the most useful book you can get for writing.

Talent and a natural ability to tell stories is hard to top, and usually it’s best to allow for your story telling style, with just a small book to polish your sentence structure and the like…but I think there is something to be said for books that can teach you more about what makes a story good. The characters, the character arcs, the beats of a story and where they should be placed. I do find that stuff interesting, even if it’s not an immediate help to a problem I might be having in my writing, that a good run outside might cure. (After all, anything that resembles exercise, if it’s my option to write some paragraphs or run, I’ll almost always pick the writing and my block is cured….)

By: Hellion

Hellion — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:04:46 +0000

Terri, you’re going to have to go back to school for writing. It’s the School of Hellion. Good luck. The teacher’s a hardass.

By: Marnee Jo

Marnee Jo — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:28:12 +0000

I think Q might have referenced the most useful writerly book out there. Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is an ABSOLUTE must read for any writer. When I was working as an editing assitant for an internship I did at a publishing house, they handed it to me first thing. The editor I worked for said, and I quote: “Take this home and read it five times.”

Since then I’ve probably read it 25 times or more. It’s never bad to brush up on that stuff.

By: Janga

Janga — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:30:30 +0000

That should have been “Joe Glaser’s Understanding Style.” It’s not as well known as the Strunk and White and the Williams, but it is another excellent book on sentence craft.

By: terrio

terrio — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:27:51 +0000

I never did say I agree with Q in a way since I think writing is the only thing that is really going to teach me how to write. But that might stem from my laziness. Reading about all these craft books makes me feel like once I finish school I’m going to have to go back to school for writing. I have so much catching up to do. *sigh*

I need more chocolate.

*waves to Sin’s mom* Someone get this woman a Hooha!