Sunday, May 26, 2013

I do believe it's a library I have

This is from an old blog that is no longer online. I had the archives in HTML and wanted to see the list properly, so I needed somewhere to post this. It's a list of all the books I own on the subject of writing. These books are all in a box in my uncle's basement, but I wanted to check which titles I already have.

  1. Beyond The Words -- The Three Untapped Sources of Creative Fulfillment For Writers (Bonni Goldberg)
  2. Bird By Bird -- Some Instructions On Writing And Life (Anne Lamott)
  3. Chicken Soup For The Writer's Soul -- Stories To Open The Heart & Rekindle The Spirit Of Writers
  4. Escaping Into The Open -- The Art Of Writing True (Elizabeth Berg)
  5. Finding Your Writer's Voice -- A Guide To Creative Fiction (Thaisa Frank & Dorothy Wall)
  6. How Not To Write -- The Essential Misrules Of Grammar (William Safire)
  7. How To Write Funny -- Add Humour To Every Kind of Writing (edited by John B. Kachuba)
  8. I'd Rather Be Writing (Marcia Golub)
  9. If You Want To Write -- A Book About Art, Independence & Spirit (Brenda Ueland)
  10. Indirections For Those Who Want To Write (Sidney Cox)
  11. Language On A Leash (Bruce O. Boston)
  12. One Continuous Mistake -- Four Noble Truths For Writers (Gail Sher)
  13. On Writing -- A Memoir Of The Craft (Stephen King)
  14. On Writing Well -- An Informal Guide To Writing Non-Fiction (William Zinsser)
  15. Panning For Gold In The Kitchen Sink -- Everyday Creative Writing (Michael C. Smith & Suzanne Greenberg)
  16. Pen On Fire -- A Busy Woman's Guide To Igniting The Writer Within (Barbara DeMarco-Barrett)
  17. Surviving A Writer's Life (Suzanne Lipsett)
  18. Take Joy -- A Book For Writers (Jane Yolen)
  19. The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes -- And How To Avoid Them (Jack M. Bickham)
  20. The Art & Craft Of The Short Story (Rick DeMarinis)
  21. The Art Of Fiction (David Lodge)
  22. The Borzoi Handbook For Writers
  23. The Courage To Write -- How Writers Transcend Fear (Ralph Keyes)
  24. The Forest For The Trees -- An Editor's Advice To Writers (Betsy Lerner)
  25. The Modern Library Writer's Workshop -- A Guide To The Craft Of Fiction (Stephen Koch)
  26. The Pen Commandments -- A Guide For The Beginning Writer (Steven Frank)
  27. The Right To Write -- An Invitation & Initiation Into The Writing Life (Julia Cameron)
  28. The Writer On Her Work (Vol 1) (Edited by Janet Sternburg)
  29. The Writer's Idea Book -- How To Develop Great Ideas For Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry & Screenplays (Jack Heffrom)
  30. What If? -- Writing Exercises For Fiction Authors (Anne Bernays & Pamela Painter)
  31. Why I Write -- Thoughts On The Craft Of Fiction (edited by Will Blythe)
  32. Wild Mind -- Living The Writer's Life (Natalie Goldberg)
  33. Words Fail Me -- What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing (Patricia T. O'Connor)
  34. Writers [On Writing] -- Collected Essays From The New York Times
  35. Writing Down The Bones -- Freeing The Writer Within (Natalie Goldberg)
  36. Writing From The Inside Out -- Transforming Your Psychological Blocks To Release The Writer Within (Dennis Palumbo)
  37. Writing Past Dark -- Envy, Fear, Distraction, And Other Dilemmas In The Writer's Life (Bonnie Friedman)
  38. Writing With Style -- Conversations On The Art Of Writing (John R. Trimble)

Since 2006, I have added these books:

  1. How Not To Write A Novel -- 200 Mistakes To Avoid At All Costs If You Ever Want To Get Published (Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark
  2. Escaping into the Open -- The Art Of Writing True (Elizabeth Berg)
  3. The Weekend Novelist -- A Dynamic 52-Week Program To Help You Produce A Novel... One Weekend At A Time (Robert J. Ray & Bret Norris)
  4. How To Write Like Chekov -- Advice and Inspiration, Straight From His Own Letters And Work (ed. Piero Brunello & Lena LenĨek)
  5. The Lie That Tells A Truth -- A Guide To Writing Fiction (John Dufresne) Birthday gift from my dad in 2008, with the inscription, "Hope this book would help to make you a great writer!"
  6. Stein On Writing -- A Master Editor Of Some Of The Most Successful Writers Of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques And Strategies (Sol Stein)
  7. Crafting Novels & Short Stories -- The Complete Guide To Writing Great Fiction From The Editors Of Writer's Digest (ed. Melissa Wuske)

UPDATE:
I just saw that #2 in the new list duplicates #4 in the old list. Aaaaand... FOURTY-FOUR books on writing? FOURTY-FOUR?! Clearly I need help.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

A love affair

It's not so much that I love to read or that I read a lot. It's simply that I'm in love with books. I love being surrounded by them. I have books in the living room, books on the dining table, books in the bathroom, books on my bedside table, books in the study room. The only rooms with absolutely no books are the kitchen (wouldn't want to accidentally set one on fire) and the guest room (which might change if I run out of space to keep them books :p).

It doesn't seem to matter that I haven't even read most of my books and may never have the time to do so. It's enough that I love them, want to read them and fully intend to one day read them. Sometimes I feel guilty for neglecting them, but simply having them around makes me feel happy.

I am so weird.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Inexplicable passion

I can easily explain my love affair with books -- I live to read, d'oh -- but can't quite pinpoint why I have such a fascination with shoes. Saying I love to wear shoes not only doesn't sound quite right, it isn't even accurate -- I'd much prefer to go barefoot!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The subconscious is a fascinating thing

Was doing some spring-cleaning and came upon an exercise book in which I had written down a few dreams. I rarely wake up remembering a dream, and unfortunately this entry was undated, so there's no way of telling which year I dreamt this. The words are scribbled across the page, not neatly written on the lines, by which I deduce I must have woken up and written it in the dark so as to capture the images before they slipped away. I reproduce the notes here in their entirety:

*      *      *      *      *      *

Was at rooftop -- looked up and saw object beaming rainbows from both sides

Wondered what it was

People started hurrying out with cameras and filming equipment -- asked them -- "It's an astroid!"

Watched as it sailed across -- "You think that's creepy? Look down!" Next to building -- tanks (army) all over the place. Lined up in neat rows, waiting

Asteroid lands -- all tanks pointed at it -- something pops out -- comes sailing in the air -- lands on rooftop where we are. Everyone screams, me included. Somehow some dinosaur has appeared in the middle of rooftop too. Thingy opens and there's a whole fish on top of a can. Friend is right in front of it -- grabs the fish -- then flustered, hurls it back at dino and grabs can instead. Dino devours fish while she opens can, the rest of us stand back in fear...

*      *      *      *      *      *

And it ends with those exact words, on a cliffhanger! I'm wondering if I ate too much pizza for dinner that night or something...