WRITING ADVICE – Kristine Kathryn Rusch #8: Recommended Reading List

I first ran across the work of Kristine Kathryn Rusch when her name appeared on the bottom of a standard rejection form I got from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, where she was head editor for several years. A short time later, I ran across one of her short stories (“Retrieval Artist” in the June 2000 ANALOG), which of course, led me t0 her RETRIEVAL ARTIST novels. I’m a fan now and started reading her blog (http://kriswrites.com/) a year or more ago. As always, I look for good writing advice to pass on to you as well as applying it to my own writing. I have her permission to quote from the articles. You can find the complete article referenced below here: http://kriswrites.com/?s=April+2011

I could easily generate a Recommended Reading List, but the fact of the matter is that no one would really be interested.

“Recommendations” have to carry weight in order to interest people.

People carry weight because of their notoriety and I am not notorious...I’m not noted anywhere, either.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch has notoriety. David Brin has notoriety. Stephen King has notoriety.

So I thought I’d share a few #1 Books that Writers Should Read according to 10 different websites:

BIRD BY BIRD  Anne Lamott [pastemagazine.com]

THE ANTI 9-5   Michelle Goodman [about.com/freelance-writing]

THE KING JAMES BIBLE  [copyblogger.com]

THE ELEMENT OF STYLE   Strunk and White  [karenbarnes.hubpages.com]

WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL   Donald Maass  [writersedgeinfo.blogspot.com]

WRITING DOWN THE BONES  Natalie Goldberg  [amazon.com]

WRECK THIS JOURNAL  Keri Smith  [barnesandnoble.com]

THE SITUATION AND THE STORY  Vivian Gornick   [flashlightworthy.com]

ON WRITING WELL  William Zinsser  [infobarrel.com]

ON WRITING  Stephen King  [tabbedbooks.wordpress.com]

Strangely enough, seven professional organizations that might have made recommendations that carried weight – Writers Guild of America; Christian Writers Guild; The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators; the Horror; Romance; Science Fiction and Fantasy; and Mystery...Writers of America (based on a brief Google search) have nothing to say about the 10 Best Books for Writers. [There’s an interesting challenge to do something about!]

Seeing there doesn’t seem to be any authority speaking, I’ll add my OWN Ten Best Books For Writers:

WRITING SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY  Orson Scott Card – the single best writing book I recommend: elegant, useful, understandable, brilliant

KOMARR  Lois McMaster Bujold – a “bottom of the ladder”, deeply imagined character who chooses excellence

STARTIDE RISING  David Brin – brilliant world building

WORLD BUILDING  Stephen L. Gillette – a clear reference for alien world building

BEGINNINGS, MIDDLES AND ENDS  Nancy Kress – perfect for writing superior ones

COMEDY WRITING SECRETS  Melvin Helitzer – everyone needs to laugh, this genius shows you how to make people do it

WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL  Donald Maass – simply incredible

WALKING ON WATER  Madeleine L’Engle – demonstrates how to share a deep faith without offense

XENOGENESIS SERIES  Ocatvia Butler – pure beauty of language and subtle idea

CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT – startling in its originality and depth of character

Do YOU have a Top Ten Best Books for Writers list?

Image: http://s3.amazonaws.com/readers/2010/07/25/topten_2.jpg