Thoughts on writing from a Cul-de-Sac

October 16, Charleston Premiere of The Secret Life of Bees. For more information, go to http://www.lilaconnects.com

Greatest Hits (Books on Writing)

Some recent additions:
Larsen, Michael. How to Get a Literary Agent
Ueland, Brenda. If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence, and Spirit
Burroway, Janet. Writing Fiction: a Guide to Narrative Craft
Edgerton, Les. Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Let’s Them Go

Starters
LeGuin, Ursula K. Steering the Craft: Exercises and Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or the Mutinous Crew
McCormack, Thomas. The Fiction Editor
Sellers, Heather. Chapter by Chapter: Discover the Dedication and Focus You Need to Write the Book of Your Dreams

Craft and Exercise-Based
Baxter, Charles. The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot
Bell, Madison Smart. Narrative Design
Burroway, Janet. Writing Fiction: a Guide to Narrative Craft
Conroy, Frank The Eleventh Draft: Craft and the Writing Life from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
Edelstein, Scott. Manuscript Submission
Koch, Stephen. The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop: A Guide to the Craft of Fiction
Krull, Kathleen. 12 Keys to Writing Books that Sell
Lukeman, Noah. The First Five Pages
McCauley & Lanning. Technique in Fiction
McClanahan, Rebecca. Word Painting: A Guide to Writing More Descriptively
O’Connor, Frank. The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story
Stern, Jerome. Making Shapely Fiction

Publication
Applebaum, Judith. How to Get Happily Published
Bernstein, Leonard. Getting Published: The Writer in the Combat Zone
Collier, Oscar. How to Write and Sell Your First Novel
Curtis, Richard . How to Be Your Own Literary Agent: An Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book Published
Hill, Brian & Dee Power. The Making of a Best Seller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them
Larsen, Michael. How to Get a Literary Agent
Lerner, Betsy. The Forest For the Trees: an Editor’s Advice to Writers
Levasseur, Jennifer & Kevin Rabalais. Novel Voices: 17 Award-Winning Novelists on How to Write, Edit, and Get Published

Inspirational
Atwood, Margaret. Negotiating with the Dead: a Writer on Writing
Blythe, Will. Why I Write: Thoughts on the Craft of Fiction
Cameron, Julia. The Artist’s Way: a Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
Cameron, Julia. The Vein of Gold: a Journey to Your Creative Heart
Cameron, Julia. Walking in the World: the Practical Art of Creativity
Dillard, Annie. The Writing Life
Goldberg, Natalie. Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer’s Craft
Goldberg, Natalie. The Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life
Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within
King, Stephen. On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: some Instructions on Writing and Life
Lott, Bret. Before We Get Started: A Practical Memoir
Mailer, Norman. The Spooky Art: some Thoughts on Writing
McClanahan, Rebecca. Write Your Heart Out
Oates, Joyce Carol. The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art
See, Carolyn. Making a Literary Life: Advise for Writers and other Dreamers

Classics
Bradbury, Ray. Zen in the Art of Writing
Forster, E. M. Aspects of the Novel
Gardner, John. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers
Gardner, John. On Moral Fiction
Miller, Henry. Henry Miller On Writing
O’Connor, Flannery. Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose
Ueland, Brenda. If You Want to Write: A Book About Art, Independence, and Spirit
Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginni
Woolf, Virginia. A Room of One’s Own

Language and Syntax
Strunk, William Jr. The Elements of Style
Zinsser, William. On Writing Well: the Classical Guide to Writing Nonfiction
Zinsser, William. Writing to Learn

Reference Resources
The Writer’s Market
Literary Market Place
Publisher’s Directory

Literary Magazines
Crazy Horse, Georgia Review, Southern Review, Antioch Review, the Writer, Writer’s Journal and more…