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The "how-to-write" books here are especially for genre writers, not for thrillers, domestic dramas, mysteries, or mainstream fiction. They teach everything those foolish "one style fits all" books do, plus the special attitudes and tricks we need. Even the best of us have bad days when that rule for something complex in language eludes us. Everyone needs some grammar reference, and if yours feels shaky there's some very lightsome ways of buffing up your commas here.
Any of these will be good for our Keys writers, but we've got some special how-to's just for them.
A reference for grammar and punctuation, preferred by some.
Available 1 September 2010
Oxford University Press 2nd edition
This multiple CD-ROM set contains the entire 20-volume unabridged in an easy-to-search format. Price makes your hair stand on end, but consider the savings in not having to rent a larger apartment.
Allworth Press, 2001
Since the objective for any professional writer is to get published, it behooves us all to know how to write a decent proposal for works of fiction and for non-fiction. Since these queries differ vastly, you need to know how to write them for the market you want to sell to.
This is one of the better guides for writing proposals that stand out from the crowd and convey your work in its best light.
Indiana University Press, 1992
Concentrating on the works of Le Guin, John Crowley, Tolkien, Diana Wynne Jones, Gene Wolfe, and others, Attebery studies the construction of fantasy for both the writer and the reader. One of the more pleasant introductions to modern literary theory, too.
Still available from Amazon
Clarendon Press (3rd ed., 1996)
Basic reference on style and usage. Has been slammed by some for admitting more common usages in the place of older "correct" ones, but this may suit you fine.
Writer's Digest Books, 1990
Simply and well written, with guidelines to both the writing and building the surround. Many readers find it an excellent book on the art and craft of writing in any genre.
Shooting Star Press, 1995
A solid reference on both writing and the genre, if the WDB party line makes you twitch.
St. Martin's Press, 1993
A collection of twenty essays on aspects of the field, from comedy to characterization, like Heinlein's "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction" with a bias to the short story.
Pantheon, 1993
Sly, gothic, witty, accurate, and deliciously illustrated. Keep an eye out for the original version, The Transitive Vampire. Lots more fun than Strunk, White, Fowler's, or anyone else in grammar.
Karen Elizabeth Gordon, Ticknor and Fields, 1993
Another cheerful, elegant, accurate and attractive seduction of the reader in a field usually left to very dry rules lists.
Pantheon Books, 1997
Now Gordon takes her Gothic menagerie into advanced matters, from the split inifinitive debate to parallel construction, dangling modifiers.
A&C Black, 1996
Especially geared to building the fantasy world, the conscious use of archetypes, with special chapters on dark fantasy, comic fantasy, and fantasy for children. Good on the importance of rewriting.
HarperCollins 6th edition (2002)
A thesaurus, if you are not familiar with it, is far more than a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. Roget's brilliance lay not in compiling words, but in laying out ideas in relationship to each other. In a dictionary form, if the only word you can think of is "refulgence" you are probably lost. You have to have one of the listed words before you can find any others, and by the time you have thought of one, you don't need it. A thesaurus, on the other hand, lets you find words when you don't have any word, just a vague idea. You go to the right area of ideas and browse. A must for serious writers and serious learners.
Indiana University Press, 1995
Noted novelist Russ explores the presence of women in science fiction as authors as much as characters, and how the genre shapes and is shaped by the writer's and protagonist's gender. Recommended for those wanting to move beyond what they think they know about it.
1997
A more advanced approach for you who have already read everything else, but perfectly good for a first how-to book, too.
Teach Yourself, 1998
Excellent new book by a most admirable writer.
Allyn & Bacon, 3rd ed (1995)
One of the top standard books on English usage, grammar, and punctuation, and cheap, too!
Michael Wiese Productions (2007)
Vogler has taken the outlines of The Hero's Journey by Campbell and recooked it for writers creating myths, rather than readers analysing them. However, you had better already know or be willing to look up a lot of technical jargon like "archetypes" and such. We have seen this applied to contemporary thrillers and mysteries; it certainly provides a viable structure for our field, if sometimes a little too familiar.
Writer's Digest Books, 1991
Contains writing advice from notable authors like Robert Block, Ray Bradbury, Dean R. Koontz, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Charles L. Grant.
Clarion, 1992
Good for beginners, and not likely to be over your head and leave you confused. Written for junior high or a little younger. Certainly worth reading at the library.
A very good book for the intermediate, sometimes intimidating for the beginner. Makes the old-fashioned assumption that the writer can always be addressed as "he."
Lots of tips and useful market information for hopeful young writers. Actually a pretty good how-to, getting down to the nitty-gritty of ms prep. As there are not many "young writer specific" markets, this is not a hefty market section. However, there are some periodicals where they only want teen writers. Includes e-zines.
A good young adult's book on putting a story together. A real emphasis on craft.
An excellent book aimed at high-school teens. Out of print but still available used.
Twenty-First Century Books, NY. Hardcover
As the author says, "For kids who like to write and want to be really good at it. It's got information on how to get ideas, what to do when you have an idea, how to plot your stories and draw realistic characters, how to use dialogue and description effectively, how to share your writing with others, which contests to enter, writing software, what to do if you want to go to a writing camp, and how to get your work published. Kids online and off helped with this book, so I think young people will find it fun and helpful, too." Listed for grades 4-8, or ages 9-12 (they did it, we didn't)